Five-month-old Sarus chick found dead in Dhanauri wetlands

The official count of the bird at the wetland, which spans over 101-hectares, is currently 120, said officials

A five-month-old sarus crane was found dead at Dhanauri wetland in Gautam Budh Nagar while another Sarus crane was found infected at the same spot on Saturday afternoon and is being treated by veterinary officers, said forest officials.

Dhanauri is the largest habitat for sarus crane in Gautam Budh Nagar. There has been a steady rise in the population of birds. (HT archive)

District forest officer P K Srivastava said that a local found the two sarus chicks unconscious at Dhanauri wetland on Saturday and informed the forest departement around 12 noon.”Forest rangers immediately reached the spot and got the birds examined by the chief veterinary officer. While one was declared dead, the other one was alive and given medical treatment,” said Srivastava.

“Dhanauri is the largest habitat for sarus crane in Gautam Budh Nagar. There has been a steady rise in the population of birds,” said Srivastava adding that the official count of the bird at the wetland, which spans over 101-hectares, is currently 120.

Anand Arya, a Noida-based birder who was among the first to have found the wetland in 2014 and initiated the legal battle for its recognition as a Ramsar site, said that the wetland needs immediate conservation.

Ramsar sites are the wetlands of international importance. India is a signatory to the Ramsar Convention held in 1971 in Iran that seeks to recognise and protect important wetlands of the world. India currently has 47 sites designated as Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Sites), with a surface area of 1,090,230 hectares.

Srivastava said the district forest department is working on getting the wetland a Ramsar tag.

Other than Dhanauri, sarus cranes are found in various small fields and marshes of the district, such as Khodna Khurd, Ishapur, Rawani Bujurg, Parsaul and Nagla Bhatona.