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A new headcount of the already rare Sarus crane in Gujarat has sent alarm bells ringing in the bird lovers' community.
A Gujarat Ecological Education and Research Foundation census spotted just 1,402 of the birds in the state -- once the Sarus's favourite destination -- earlier this year, The Indian Express newspaper reported.
The number was down from the 1,730 that the forest department spotted in 1999 and 19,659 in 1984.
It isn't like the Sarus cranes have adopted a new destination. Their numbers have also fallen in the marshlands of other states such as Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Haryana, the paper said.
At the same time, Sarus populations in Pakistan, Myanmar and Bangladesh have been virtually wiped out.
"It is indeed sad that the Sarus is no longer a resident in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar," Bombay Natural History Society Director Asad Rahmani was quoted as saying.
"I have not come across a single bird in the last couple of years, nor have I read a study stating that they exist in these countries. Even in the Terai region of north India, the Sarus population is on the decline."
Gujarat, with its shallow wetlands, was an ideal habitat for the cranes. They would roost in the paddy fields, building nests using the long shoots and eating from the shallow waters rich with insects and fallen grain.
"We have observed that the Sarus is losing its habitat to increased agricultural activity and to the sale of farmland to industry," said GEER Foundation Director H S Singh.
"Our studies indicate that the use of DDT and other pesticides could also have led to a reduction in the rate at which the Sarus breed."
Experts say the release of effluents and sewage into rivers is also responsible for the Sarus's dwindling fortunes.
There are currently an estimated 8,000-10,000 of the endangered Sarus cranes across the world. But in India, the crane remains in the list of common species, which means that it doesn't get the protection that it requires to save it from extinction
Indo-Asian News Service
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