Important Facts For Prelims
Sarus Crane
- 23 Jul 2019
- 1 min read
The annual census conducted by the state forest department of Uttar Pradesh has revealed that the Sarus crane population in Ghaziabad has been stagnant over the period of five years.
- The Sarus Crane is the tallest flying bird in the world and was declared as the state bird of Uttar Pradesh (UP) in 2014.
- It is listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list.
- According to World Wildlife Fund (WWF), their population is now on the decline with only 15,000-20,000 in India (a majority of which are in UP).
- The Sarus is listed under schedule IV of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
- Species listed in Schedule IV are protected, but the penalties are much lower.
- Sarus Cranes are known to live in association with humans and well watered plains, marshland, ponds, and wetlands (like Dhanauri wetland in UP) which are suitable for their forage and nesting.
- Human activities, habitat loss, predation by feral dogs, mongoose and snakes, and hunting being counted as the major threats to the species.
