Bird count goes up substantially after the state government sets up sarus protection society in 2006.
With results of the latest sarus crane census coming in, Uttar Pradesh (UP) can boast of being the state with the largest crane (grus antigone) population in the country. UP is also one of the rare states, apart from Gujarat and Rajasthan, to carry out a crane census.
Sarus crane, the state bird of UP, has grown by leaps and bounds in this state during the last decade. From a humble tally of just about 1,000 in 1999, the sarus crossed the 12,000 mark in 2010, thanks to conservation efforts by wildlife-related NGOs and the UP forest department (UPFD).
The state witnessed a sudden surge in the population of the sarus after the UPFD set up the Sarus Protection Society (SPS) in 2006, and this tallest flying bird in the world was named as the state bird of UP, informs Sukhjinder Singh, conservator of forest, UPFD.
Sarus is the only resident crane of India, while the others are migratory, and has been categorised as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in its “red list” of species facing extinction.
“Apart from the sarus being designated the state bird, what really seems to have worked here is the joint effort by NGOs and the UPFD,” said former UP chief wildlife warden and well-known wildlifer, Ram Lakhan Singh. “Farmers in UP regard the sarus as protector of their crops. Increased awareness about the danger of its extinction has also helped,” he adds.
Interestingly, foresters involved in the census said that the maximum sightings of sarus were reported from well-populated areas rather than protected areas (PAs) or forest reserves.
In fact, only five per cent of the crane population has been reported from the PAs across the state.
“You would be surprised to know that there is not a single sarus in the Dudhwa forest reserve while the maximum sightings (over 2,000) were reported from a non-descript place like Mainpuri,” a senior forest department official pointed out.
“The sarus is friendly to human beings and likes to live close to them. This is one thing which earlier endangered them. Ironically, this is the factor which is now helping in their protection due to better awareness and empathy among the people about birds and wildlife,” said ornithologist Raghavendra Singh. “Crane alarm calls ward off intruders in fields and help protect crops. The sarus is also linked to Hindu mythology,” he explains.
Foresters and officials may be excited over the latest numbers, but there are people who feel the achievement could be a tad exaggerated.
“We are comparing latest figures to earlier estimations,” remarked an UPFD
official insisting on anonymity. “There has been a sea change in the techniques and technology used for counting over the years. So it is difficult to say whether sarus population has really grown manifold or we failed to count them properly earlier,” he added.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}