Great Indian bustard nears vanishing point in South Asia

A treacherous combination of habitat degradation, illegal hunting and predation has pushed the Great Indian bustard, one of the world's heaviest flying birds, to the brink of extinction in Pakistan and India, wildlife experts and conservation groups warn.

With an alarmingly small global population of just between 200 and 250, the bird has been classified as "critically endangered" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, or IUCN.

In Pakistan, the situation is particularly dire, with the estimated population of the long-legged bird, endemic to the subcontinent, hovering between 25 and 35, according to the World Wildlife Fund for Nature Pakistan, or WWF-Pakistan.