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The bird mothers keeping a species extant

Nikhila Purohit cares for eight Great Indian Bustard chicks at a breeding centre in Jaisalmer, part of efforts to save the critically endangered species.

Published on: Mar 13, 2025, 05:56:13 IST
By Jasjeev Gandhiok, Jaisalmer
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At 7am, Nikhila Purohit, 29, dons her bright blue apron and makes her way outside to meet her children. She has eight, and like most young ones, they are always hungry, so they are happy to see her (as most children are to see their mother). But Purohit’s children are special, and not just in her eyes -- they account for almost 4% of the numbers of their species, perhaps more.

PREMIUMEight Great Indian Bustard (GIB) chicks that are being raised at a special enclosure in Ramdevra near Jaisalmer. (HT photo)
Eight Great Indian Bustard (GIB) chicks that are being raised at a special enclosure in Ramdevra near Jaisalmer. (HT photo)

Purohit is the surrogate mother to eight Great Indian

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jasjeev Gandhiok

Jasjeev Gandhiok is an Assistant Editor with Hindustan Times, where he covers environment, climate change, the clean energy transition and wildlife at the National Bureau. Gandhiok has over a decade of experience in journalism and is based in Delhi. He has reported extensively on Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR). This includes the region's air pollution woes, a polluted Yamuna and on urban wildlife still thriving in the region. He joined HT in October 2021. Prior to that, he had five-year stint at The Times of India in Delhi, where he also covered Delhi, with a focus on environment and wildlife. Gandhiok has covered some recent events around the Capital too, ranging from the farmers' protests, the northeast Delhi riots and the CAA-NRC protests, reporting from the ground on all of these. He also travels across the country to report on how environment and climate change impact everyday life, while also writing on endangered species. His reports in 2019 on toxic leachate from Delhi's landfills led to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) taking suo motu cognisance and ultimately asking the state government to start bio-mining to flatten and remove all three landfills in the capital. He also closely tracks the implementation of government policies on climate, renewable energy and environmental protection. His focus remains on impactful, public-interest journalism which explains how environmental decisions affect people's everyday lives.

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