A conservationist’s call
PROFESSOR B.C. Choudhury, a wetlands resources professional with over 45 years of experience, is the executive trustee of the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI). He spearheaded the first three national-level sarus crane counts 21 years ago. His involvement over the past seven years in the project for community participation in conservation of the sarus crane and its wetlands habitats in eastern Uttar Pradesh has paid rich dividends.
Choudhury explains that wetlands, the primary habitat of the sarus crane, are facing various forms of anthropogenic pressure such as reclamation for urbanisation and agricultural expansion and pollution from the intense use of agrochemicals. Damage to nests
B.C. Choudhury, a wildlife specialist, formerly with the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), spearheaded the first three national sarus surveys, or counts, two decades ago, that is, in 1999, 2000 and 2001. He explains that the aim was to research the ecology of the sarus crane, obtain data about the bird on a national level, understand its population dynamics and provide the necessary baseline data for the conservation of its habitat. Countrywide information on the sarus crane was needed to involve people from all walks of life both in the preservation of the species and in and the stealing of eggs, pestering by feral dogs and electrocution add to the threats that the world’s tallest flying bird faces. The sarus crane population is largely outside protected areas, primarily in wetlands that dot the agriculture-dominated landscape. Paddy fields are a nearnatural habitat for the sarus, but changing cropping patterns from rice to cash crops such as sugarcane have reduced the bird’s habitat. The sarus crane, therefore, is now localised to areas where there is a mosaic of rice cultivation and natural wetlands. In Uttar Pradesh, the sarus crane holds an esteemed position and is the State bird. Choudhury and his team have been identifying Important Sarus Wetland Sites (ISWS) in the agricultural landscape spreading awareness. Although annual counts have been carried out at the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary since the 1980s, nationwide quantitative data were unavailable. Regrettably, the WII’S annual sarus crane count project became defunct after three surveys for lack of government funding.
Because the sarus crane species has the habit of bonding and pairing of eastern Uttar Pradesh because although information is available about the crane population in western Uttar Pradesh and the Terai region, such information was lacking for eastern Uttar Pradesh. This information gap was the impetus behind a project the WTI undertook in 2013 with support from the Tata Trusts in this region.
The ISWS report, prepared after field surveys in consultation with the local Forest Department staff, grass-roots-level non-governmental organisations (NGOS) and panchayat raj institutions, includes a basic fact sheet on each wetland site. The Tata Trusts are investing significantly in sustainable agricultural development and overall conservation of the agricultural for life, it became a symbol of affection, love and fertility, and this led to it being protected in Uttar Pradesh. These monogamous attributes have safeguarded the cranes. In the three national surveys the WII and associated organisations carried out, they found that the involvement of States and dedicated volunteers were essential to arrive at a realistic sarus status in the country. The surveys
ecosystems of the northern floodplains. This report helped to highlight the importance of these wetlands for sarus cranes and helped the State Wildlife Department provide suitable conservation measures for the ongoing sarus campaign in collaboration with local stakeholders. Thirty-three community-based organisations and 160 volunteers were recruited for sarus population monitoring and 26 grass-rootslevel NGOS were roped in for conservation awareness. Choudhury concludes that 681 Sarus cranes were counted in 2013, and by 2019 that figure had multiplied to 2,087. This clearly shows it is crucial today that people come forward and get involved in the protection of this bird with a regal attitude.
N. Shiva Kumar clearly showed that Uttar Pradesh hosted the majority of the population of this species in India but invariably with a spillover into neighbouring wetlands in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. When the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department conducted its first State-wide sarus count on June 20, 2010, it found 12,246 flourishing individuals. A survey the Forest Department carried out in 2018 found about 16,000 plus sarus cranes. It also found that the bird was evidently evolving a preference for agricultural and rural landscapes. With no comprehensive survey of sarus cranes having been conducted in recent years at the national level, ornithologists have guessed that the countrywide sarus population is around 25,000.
However, in later years, the WII’S national assessments have provided ample impetus and credibility for future scientific and systematic surveys. The WII encouraged a few States to conduct sarus counts. Local non-governmental organisations were invited to participate in sarus surveillance as no special equipment, not even binoculars or spotting scopes, was required to see these big birds. Similarly, the Zoological Survey of India conducted a rapid studysurvey in 2006-07 in a dozen districts of Uttar Pradesh and found 603 sarus cranes. The highlight was the discovery of a single flock of over 100 cranes in Chamarpura village in Mainpuri district on February 8, 2006. In 2007-08, 30 village sarus protection groups conducted a survey in Kota, Bundi and Baran districts of Rajasthan covering 95 wetlands with the help of the Rufford Small Grants Foundation, United Kingdom. Choudhury motivated and monitored this assessment too. The number of sarus cranes was estimated at 60. I was fortunate enough to be able to accompany Choudhury on one of his field visits to a village near Kota as I happened to be watching tigers in the vicinity at the time, in the Ranthambhore National Park.
The Indian sarus is an omnivorous wetland wader and one of the largest of the 15 species of cranes in the world. Its plumage is light grey to pale purple and its long legs are red; it has a light green skin crown while the rest of its head and upper neck are covered with red skin and its ear is enhanced by a small area of greyish feathers. This colouring helps the sarus crane merge into the background.
Since ancient times in India, sarus cranes have been known not only for their extreme fidelity but also for their dramatic dance rituals performed before and during the mating and nesting season. Sarus cranes can be found painted on the pages of Akbarnama, or Book of Akbar, which is the official chronicle of the reign of Akbar, the third Mughal emperor (1556-1605).
At present, there are three global populations of the sarus crane thriving independently: northern Indian, which is the largest; South-east
Asian; and northern Australian. Sarus cranes have been more or less decimated in the countries neighbouring India and are surviving by the skin of their teeth in India, explains K.S. Gopi Sundar of the International Crane foundation, who is based in India.
After participating in the WII’S first national sarus survey, my interest in the sarus crane grew by leaps and bounds, and I cherished the sightings of the stately bird on my numerous random countryside twitcher trips. For instance, in Bera, Rajasthan, on the rocky terrain along the Jawai river, I saw two pairs of sarus cranes jostling for space with flamingos. While travelling by train or road on several occasions along National Highway 2 near Palwal in Haryana, I have seen sarus cranes ambling along in cultivated fields. The Sultanpur and Bhindawas bird sanctuaries in Haryana have resident sarus cranes that breed infrequently.
On March 7, just before the lockdown, while travelling towards Nal Sarovar Lake from Ahmedabad, I saw a family of four and a group of six on the roadside. At present, even during the lockdown, my preferred getaway is a trip to the Dhanauri wetlands, which the ardent birder Anand Arya discovered in 2014. He has regularly recorded over a dozen, and even up to 100, sarus cranes at these wetlands over the past seven years. He is now persistently working for protection for these wetlands and to get the area declared a sarus sanctuary. However, in all my trips to Dhanauri, I have yet to encounter more than 17 sarus specimens in a single day and definitely hope to see a more prominent congregation in the days to come.
My finest encounter of a sarus pair, undoubtedly, was in the winter of 2002, at my favourite destination, the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary. That particular day in February was cold and foggy and I could literally see nothing beyond my nose. But my fa