Category : Wildlife | Location : Madhya Pradesh | Posted on 2022-08-05 03:25:24
Indore: A three-month-long annual survey by the wildlife experts revealed a considerable decrease of around 34% in number of Sarus Crane at Yashwant Sagar wetland in a year, further raising an alarm regarding their presence and growth.
“Around three-months-long annual survey conducted between April and July this year at Yaswant Sagar pond and its surrounding areas revealed a drastic reduction of Sarus cranes congregation. The team spotted maximum 50 Sarus cranes this year, which is around 34.21% less in numbers comparing to presence of one of the tallest flying birds of the world i.e. 76 as spotted in last year’s survey” Ravi Sharma, ornithologist and president of Nature & Wildlife Conservation and Awareness Society (NWCAS), said.TOI has been raising the issue about not so significant growth in number of sarus cranes, as recorded in last few years, that gather in and around Yashwant Sagar every summer as preferable site for feeding, breeding and roosting, as human intervention is blamed for allegedly damaging the ecosystem in this wetland that is affecting their numbers.
“This year, as the water level of Yashwant Sagar and nearby water bodies is sufficient, our team crosschecked other surrounding locations including Machal, Burana Khedi and Baroda Daulat pond where one or two Sarus cranes are usually found. This time however, only a pair of Sarus cranes with chicks was spotted at Baroda Daulat pond. Thereby, as such no evidence that Sarus cranes would have shifted to these locations” Sharma claimed, adding that reduction of Sarus Crane’s population is a great concern that prompted his team to study the reasons.He added that some of the observations of his team at Yashwant Sagar indicate direct/indirect impact on Sarus Crane’s population include excessive fishing activities along with creation of small ponds for breeding of fishes and transfer of water from the main pond to these small ponds, fishermen lying large net for fishing and also covering the area with crossed-wire nylon nets to avert the birds from catching fish as food.
“We noticed carcasses of some of the birds hanging on these nets” the ornithologist said, adding that large scale vegetables farming on the dried field of Yashwant Sagar in summer along with use of insecticides and pesticides for the yield causing harmful effects on the avian apart from contaminating the water.Sharma claimed that a fire that broke out at Gulawat (a part of Yashwant Sagar pond) last summer had burnt large numbers of bamboos that had turned into ashes and damaged the ecosystem while excessive tourist activities at this site is creating disturbance to the birds.
The birdwatchers have demanded immediate and appropriate actions from the IMC, local administration and pollution control board.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/indore/sarus-crane-count-dips-34-at-yashwant-sagar/articleshowprint/93359885.cms
