LUMBINI, SEPTEMBER 7
Participating conservationists and guests put their hands together when the bird festival organised by the Lumbini Development Trust on 26 November 2018 declared the sarus crane (grus antigone) as the 'city bird' of Lumbini.
The world's tallest flying bird species has found its historical and spiritual significance in the epic Ramayana and a story surrounding Siddhartha Gautam Buddha.
But, the non-migratory bird has faced existential threat due to factors such as their collision with electricity lines, increasing urbanisation, noise and industrial pollution, hunting, rampant use of pesticides and human activities, and largely due to encroachment on their habitats.
Arjun Kurmi, chairperson of Green Youth, Lumbini, a local club working for the conservation of birds, said the bird species was increasingly disappearing.
Earlier, more than two dozen pairs of the bird were spotted outside the eastern wall of the LDT building.
But, they had disappeared in the past few years, he said.
Seven pairs of the bird species reared in the wetland area of Lumbini Village in the northern part of the LDT also vanished, he said, adding that they were forced to move elsewhere to lay and hatch eggs as their habitats - lakes, streams, wetlands and farmlands at Bharthapur, Bhujahiya and Aama of Lumbini Sanskritik Municipality, Betkuiya and Pharena of Sammarimai Rural Municipality and Bogadiya of Kotahimai Rural Municipality - dry up during the dry season. Drying up of wetlands during summer has also affected the breeding of the bird.
Sarus cranes are mostly found in parts of the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia and Australia. In 2000, they were enlisted in the IUCN red list of threatened species. Similarly, the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act, 1973, has enlisted sarus crane as a protected bird.
In Nepal, killing a sarus crane is punishable by Rs 15,000 to Rs 30,000 in fine per person or three to nine months imprisonment or both, according to the Act.
The world's tallest flying bird stands 152-156 cms tall with a wingspan of 240 cms. It weighs 6.8-7.8 kilograms. They are a social creature, found mostly in pairs or small groups of three or four. Nests are built on water in natural wetlands or in flooded farmlands. According to ornithologist Hiru Lal Dagaura, it lays two eggs.
After laying eggs, both the male and female protect them alternately. The chicks live with their parents for six months, and thereafter they live in pairs. The chicks hatch at an interval of around 30 to 32 days. In Nepal, they are mostly found in Kapilvastu, Banke, Dang and Chitwan; Kalikich lake and the buffer zone, Beldandi of the Shuklaphanta National Park in Kanchanpur.
However, their numbers are declining. According to a study carried out in March, 2022 by the Himalayan Nature, a development and conservation research institute, their number in Rupandehi and Kapilvastu was 354 as opposed to 394 in 2021 and 404 in 2020.
The institute works for sustainable livelihood of Himalayan communities by initiating scientific research on Himalayan biodiversity and the broader environment. "In the past, the bird species could be easily spotted in hordes at a single place. They are fond of living in pairs wandering in farmlands. But, these sights are rare nowadays," observed a local mediaperson Anjana Chauhan. "Increasing urbanisation has posed threat to it."
Sudip Subedi, programme director for Himalayan Nature admitted to declining bird species. Rampant use of pesticides, unmanaged urbanisation and hunting, among others, are the main threats, he said. "Excessive use of pesticides in farmlands is detrimental to their reproduction."
The bird species help with crops as they feast on insects, he said.
In general, they hatch eggs during mid-June and mid-August.
"They build nests in paddy fields where long-stemmed rice plants are grown. However, lately, people left planting long-stemmed rice saplings, thus destroying their habitats," he said.
Live electric wires and stray dogs are major threats to them. In the past five years, seven sarus cranes were electrocuted on the edge of Aamagaun in the municipality, said Kailash Jayaswal of the Nature Conservation Foundation.
"Many sarus cranes died in the municipality area from collision with power lines during winter in particular. The average mortality rate was six pairs of the bird every year."
In the first week of August, 2020, two pairs died after being electrocuted in the southern border of Tarakulaha village in the municipality, he said. Insulating electric wires through various means like putting reflectors and a layer of plastic are among ways to save the birds, he suggested.
A version of this article appears in the print on September 8, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.
