A five-and-a-half-year-old female Great Indian Bustard was found dead in a cage at the Great Indian Bustard Breeding Centre in Sudasari village, Jaisalmer.

The Great Indian Bustard has been listed as 'critically endangered' on the IUCN Red List since 2011.

The bird's carcass was brought to the Desert National Park (DNP) office and during the examination, an injury mark was found on her head, said DNP Deputy Forest Conservator Bujmohan Gupta.

Samples from the bird's body have been sent to a lab in Dehradun to determine the cause of death.

The dead bird was cremated as per protocol, Gupta said.

He suggested that the bird may have collided with the cage while flying, or it may have died due to another reason.

The real cause will only be revealed after the post-mortem and examination of the samples, Gupta said.

He added that there are a total of 173 Great Indian Bustards in Jaisalmer and of these 128 Bustards are roaming in the wild and the rest 45 are in the breeding centre.

With the death of one female Bustard, the number has now decreased to 44.

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