Row over Indian national park is bad news for bustards

Great bustards are quite possibly the heaviest flying birds in the world. They're often described as magnificent, stately birds on account of the males' great size, cocked tails and large white whiskers. Hunted to extinction in Britain in the mid 19th century, these grand birds are now gradually being reintroduced from Russia on to Salisbury Plain. Populations of great bustards are scattered on open farmland across Europe and Asia.

The authorities in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh are under pressure to declassify a national park because much of its rare bird life is believed to have been lost forever.

Locals eager to have free use of the land complain the park's special status prevents them from doing so.

But critics say any move to downgrade Karera bird sanctuary - created in 1981, principally to help save the Great Indian bustard - would be an admission that conservation efforts there have failed.

If ratified by the central government and the Supreme Court, Karera will become the country's first national park to lose its official recognition.

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