A Study on Status of and Initiatives for Sarus Crane Grus Antigone Antigone in The Selected Areas of Madhya Pradesh

Abstract

The Sarus crane is the World s tallest flying bird in the world s tallest flying bird in the world and is considered as vulnerable. It has populations spread across the Tropical and subtropical regions of South- Asia, South-east Asia and Australia. Using plumage and morphological characteristics three sub-species of Sarus crane have been recognized. The Indian Sarus crane (Grus antigone antigone), Eastern Sarus crane (Grus antigone sharpii) and the Australian Sarus crane (Grus Antigone gillae), the Philippines sub-species is presumed to be extinct. During the present study the seasonal variation in the number and percentage of Sarus crane around the reservoirs and their breeding biology was studied in the selected areas of Madhya Pradesh. The results revealed that the habitat use of the sarus cranes varied with the seasons and it also depends on the hydrology of the reservoirs, and availability of food and water spread in the surrounding areas of the reservoirs. No significant difference in the number of sarus crane around the reservoirs was observed during the post-monsoon and winter season as the climatic and local conditions were almost similar. However, during summers more than 98% cranes were recorded within the reservoirs that might be attributed to the drying off conditions in the surrounding areas. The similar trend was observed during the post monsoon season with most number of cranes still utilizing the reservoirs. During the present study period sarus crane nested with the marshland showing that it is a true marsh nesting species. The breeding season was quite extensive especially as compared to the most of the studies conducted in the Indian- Subcontinent. However nesting beyond the monsoon season was synchronized with the intensity of precipitation and availability of food and sufficient water level around the nesting areas. newlineNesting success was proportionately good that signifies the conditions were conducive for the nesting. However heavy egg and chick mortality was observed during the whole study p