The Great Bustard

This trackable is the flag of Wiltshire including the image of the Great Bustard.  The Great Bustard (Otis tarda) is the heaviest flying animal alive today. Great Bustards can be found across Europe, as far south as Spain and as far north as the Russian steppes. Male Great Bustards grow about 30% larger than the females, reaching up to one metre tall and weighing up to 16kg. The heaviest recorded Great Bustard weighed in at 21kg. The conservation status of the Great Bustard is listed as vulnerable, with populations in many countries being in decline. The species became extinct in the UK in 1832, but work is underway to reintroduce them back into the UK on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire.

The aim for this trackable is that it does not become extinct but instead that it flies around each of the different counties in Great Britain before returning home to its home in Wiltshire.  To help it on its way we will be releasing it into the wild some way from home.  Those Great Bustards released into the wild in the UK have shown a natural tendency to head south so we are releasing ours up north.

The bustard is clearly a bird of the countryside not the towns and would love to visit some of the lovely countryside we have in the UK.  Please look after it - it's not often you can say that you picked up a Great Bustard  today.... 








The hope for this trackable is that it does not become extinct but travel sucessfully around all the different counties in Great Britain before returning to its ho 

So far the Great Bustard has been seen in:

County Durham
Northumberland
Cumbria
Hampshire