Sarus Crane – the tallest bird in India needs no introduction to most people from northern India. They have been part of the natural wetland and known to live in harmony with farmers even in the agricultural landscape. The Indian folklore and rural community revere the Sarus because of the belief that they pair for life when one bird dies, the other also die in grief. For centuries the Saras Crane has been the symbol of love and affection. Couples, who often fight, are still being reminded to emulate pairs that Sarus live with, love and affection by sharing all their chores of daily life. Even in the epic Ramayana, the Sarus is depicted as the "Krauncha". The eternal symbol once abundant this beautiful bird of congenial bliss is now threatened due to the post-independence rise of human population and associated developmental activities that served to spell doom for the Sarus Cranes and several other birds species associated with Indian wetlands. This tallest flying bird can be seen dueting near the village ponds, marshes and agricultural fields, from the mountains of Himachal Pradesh to the flood plains of Indo-Gangetic plains and even to the fringe of the desert of Thar.

From June 1998 and October 1999, colleague K.S. Gopi Sundar and myself conducted an extensive survey over all the states in central and northern India, to determine the distribution and status of the Indian Sarus Crane. From 1999 the project also initiated a participatory country wide Sarus Count programme and this programme has been continued for the years 2000 & 2001 with an overwhelming support of rural people

After the survey it was decided, to establish an intensive study site in the state of Rajasthan primarily to study their ecology in the arid landscape. Eastern Rajasthan has few wetlands that have their origin formation and maintenance by a system of irrigation canals. A field station was formally established and detailed ecological work on the species began at Kota and Bharatpur districts. The Kota population of Sarus is dependent mainly on wetlands created by irrigation canal systems that are in an unprotected landscape and the Bharatpur population is in a wetland, which is within a Protected Area. Kota is the only urban township in the country where at a distance of 12 Kms from the city, one can find breeding pairs of Sarus at a village called Ummedganj. Earlier there were more then 10-12 pairs of Sarus which used to breed in the marshes formed by the seepage of the canal but now one can see just half of them still breeding. The encroachment on the canal created marshes for agriculture has forced the pairs to leave this breeding ground in search of other suitable sites, in most cases unsuccessfully.

During the first year of the project, itself it was interesting to find that the Sarus Cranes in Kota breed twice a year, first during the onset of monsoon in June-July and once more during December-January when the canal supported wetlands get an abundant water supply. The breeding season resulted in discovery of few nesting sites due to the shortfall in the rains. However in the second half of the breeding season the same year, breeding was observed in good number. The nesting Sarus pairs however faced threats from the migrant labourers, who started stealing the eggs from the nests. The locals had their religious attachment with Sarus and thus posed no threat to the birds. It was only when the locals were told that migratory labourers are destroying the Sarus nests that they started guarding the nest of the cranes. The media played their role as eye opener and educator. Village youths like Pappu and Lattur, near Ummedganj kept their watchful eyes on the breeding pairs and their nests and thus the second year nesting season saw a steep increase in the number of the nests and even in the survival of the juveniles. The Keoladeo Ghana National Park (KGNP) Sarus however breed within the wetland environment of the Protected Area, which again is dependent on the quantum of rainfall and supplemented water to the park from Ajan bund. During the WII’s study period from 1999-2002, the success rate of breeding of Sarus Crane has not been very encouraging. Only seven pairs now breed within the park.

Mortality of Adult Sarus Cranes feeding on insecticide or pesticide laced seeds and crops have been recorded during earlier studies and even during the WII study period. The Sarus Crane, it appears to have the resilience to adapt to the changing cycle of water availability in wetlands in an arid landscape, but has no chance to survive the vagaries of poisonous chemicals in their food chain.

To monitor the weaning away process of chicks from their parents, formation of new pairs by juveniles as they reach adulthood and to examine the rate of recruitment in to the new breeding cohort in a population, the WII study used to colour band markers on Sarus chicks. In the arid landscape of Rajasthan at Kota and Bharatpur a total of twenty-eight chicks were colour banded between 2000-2002. They have been monitored from the natal grounds to the congregating wetland sites during peak summer and up to the breeding grounds. The monsoon and the winter breeding season of 2002 will enlighten the WII study the subtle ways in which a wetland-agricultural land dependent bird has adapted itself in an arid landscape.