Status of Sarus Crane (Grus antigone, Linn.) in Madhya Pradesh, India

The Sarus Crane (Grus Antigone, Linn.) is considered Vulnerable at the international level by IUCN but has been included in Schedule IV of Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 amended till date. One of the largest and the most dominant species in India, which has been declared as the State Bird of Madhya Pradesh, logically deserve serious studies on its current status. In the present study, special focus was given to the preferred habitats i.e., large agricultural farmland and wetland areas, which are distributed in 26 districts of the state. In addition 07 more districts were also surveyed in two years period. During the survey, direct sightings along with geo-references have been recordedand photographed.. Additional information were collected by interacting with the local community and meticulously recorded. A total of 347 individual birds were recorded through direct sighting during the project period and if one adds the reports from the local community, the total number of birds now stands at 491 birds. But one has to remember the limitation of this methodology, which does not exclude the possibility of repeat sighting of the same bird at a different location. As such, to exclude such possibilities, same day census operation at all the selected locations, by deploying large number of ground staff, could be undertaken in future.

Besides incorporating the data on the locations and sightings, suitable recommendations have been made towards its conservation action, especially focusing on the need for extensive Public Awareness Programme through appropriate visual display. It has also been pointed out that land use changes, both in case of large agricultural land and water-spread areas should be appropriately controlled as a part of State Policy for conserving the State Bird of Madhya Pradesh.