JULY 2008: Hope had almost died, much like the sanctuary at Bharatpur, starved of water and life for nearly five years. As the monsoon approached, many a hopeful eye looked to the sky. This time, the gods did not disappoint and rain drenched a parched earth.
The sarus crane, a bird species characteristic of wetlands, is categorized as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. In India, sarus cranes occur mostly outside protected areas and use these unprotected areas for feeding and breeding. They are consequently threatened by poaching and the destruction of their eggs and juveniles.
If India as a country stands accused of failure to protect the national animal, the state of Uttar Pradesh is now on the verge of being indicted in the same manner for threatening the very existence of the state bird, the Sarus Crane, in the districts of Etawah and Mainpuri where it has been apparently flourishing. The U.P. Govt formed a Sarus Protection Society and earmarked Rs. 10 crores for the purpose, but it is lying in cold storage. (May 2008)
The objective of the present report is 1) to focus on the present and past status of Sarus Crane 2) to throw light on the factors responsible for population decline, if any and 3) to recommend measures for Sarus conservation in the region. The study was conducted in selected areas of Bharatpur district in Rajasthan State in a radius of about 100 km from Keoladeo National Park (KNP).
This report on Black-necked Crane is the result of intensive studies and surveys in the harsh and unique environment of Ladakh. There are several findings which will be of great interest to ornithologists and particularly people working on cranes. The report takes into account the interest of the general reader and therefore has the first two chapters
George Archibald , director, International Crane Foundation ICF , USA, has been a regular visitor to Keoladeo Ghana National Park, Bharatpur. In 1993 94, an attempt was made to introduce captive reared
An experiment ultimately aimed at protecting the threatened whooping crane by teaching it to migrate to relatively safer winter locations is underway in the US
