siberian cranes gives india a skip
December 4, 2007
Siberian cranes give India a skip
MRITYUNJAY BOSE
MUMBAI: The majestic Siberian cranes, which used to arrive at Bharatpur in Rajasthan every winter, appear to have skipped India – these birds have not been sighted in this part of the world since 2001 – and now it is unlikely they would ever come to India again.
The last time a pair was spotted was in 2001 at the Keoladeo National Park in Bharatpur, when they flew over Afghanistan and arrived here in spite of bombing raids by US fighter jets to oust the erstwhile Taliban regime, during the month of October 2001 after the September 11 kamikaze.
But since 2001, these birds have not been sighted in the famous Keoladeo National Park at Bharatpur – or any other parts of northern India. The reasons are one too many – for their not coming here for wintering.
“It is a shame that we lost the Siberian cranes, but many other species are also disappearing. (The) Keoladeo National Park at Bharatpur is in terrible shape due to water-politics of Rajasthan. The Rajasthan government is not bothered to save this prestigious National Park, a World Heritage Site, a Ramsar (Convention of Wetlands) site and Important Bird Area (IBA),” laments Dr Asad R Rahmani, Director of Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS).
Rahmani said that there is no chance to get Siberian crane now because the Central population, which used to come to India is extinct, and in the Western population, probably less than ten are left. The Western population winters in Iran. Only the Eastern population is strong, about 3,000 birds but they are also under threat due to changes in their wintering areas in China - due to building of Three Gorges Dam.
Siberian cranes or Great White cranes (scientific name -- Grus leucogeranus) used to arrive in India for wintering and earlier flocks were seen arriving since October and they used to leave for their homeland during March-April. In fact, in 1965 at Bharatpur over 200 Siberian cranes were seen, but in 1993 only five of them could be spotted.
In 1994 and 1995, no birds of this variety were seen but in 1996, four of them were spotted. But in the late ninties only a couple of pairs were regularly spotted and in 2001, the last time, only a pair could be seen. Ornithologists attribute habitat loss as one of the prime reasons for the birds not being seen now. Moreover, incidents of hunting of Siberian cranes have been reported over Afghanistan and Pakistan in the past.
These birds traverse a distance over over 2,500 miles to escape the cold winters of Siberia. These birds used to arrive in India flying over Russia, Kazakistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and then to India. The Ab-i-Istada lake in Afghanistan was one of the stopover for these birds, which generally took around two months to reach India.
(This story was first published in The Maharashtra Herald)
Siberian cranes give India a skip
MRITYUNJAY BOSE
MUMBAI: The majestic Siberian cranes, which used to arrive at Bharatpur in Rajasthan every winter, appear to have skipped India – these birds have not been sighted in this part of the world since 2001 – and now it is unlikely they would ever come to India again.
The last time a pair was spotted was in 2001 at the Keoladeo National Park in Bharatpur, when they flew over Afghanistan and arrived here in spite of bombing raids by US fighter jets to oust the erstwhile Taliban regime, during the month of October 2001 after the September 11 kamikaze.
But since 2001, these birds have not been sighted in the famous Keoladeo National Park at Bharatpur – or any other parts of northern India. The reasons are one too many – for their not coming here for wintering.
“It is a shame that we lost the Siberian cranes, but many other species are also disappearing. (The) Keoladeo National Park at Bharatpur is in terrible shape due to water-politics of Rajasthan. The Rajasthan government is not bothered to save this prestigious National Park, a World Heritage Site, a Ramsar (Convention of Wetlands) site and Important Bird Area (IBA),” laments Dr Asad R Rahmani, Director of Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS).
Rahmani said that there is no chance to get Siberian crane now because the Central population, which used to come to India is extinct, and in the Western population, probably less than ten are left. The Western population winters in Iran. Only the Eastern population is strong, about 3,000 birds but they are also under threat due to changes in their wintering areas in China - due to building of Three Gorges Dam.
Siberian cranes or Great White cranes (scientific name -- Grus leucogeranus) used to arrive in India for wintering and earlier flocks were seen arriving since October and they used to leave for their homeland during March-April. In fact, in 1965 at Bharatpur over 200 Siberian cranes were seen, but in 1993 only five of them could be spotted.
In 1994 and 1995, no birds of this variety were seen but in 1996, four of them were spotted. But in the late ninties only a couple of pairs were regularly spotted and in 2001, the last time, only a pair could be seen. Ornithologists attribute habitat loss as one of the prime reasons for the birds not being seen now. Moreover, incidents of hunting of Siberian cranes have been reported over Afghanistan and Pakistan in the past.
These birds traverse a distance over over 2,500 miles to escape the cold winters of Siberia. These birds used to arrive in India flying over Russia, Kazakistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and then to India. The Ab-i-Istada lake in Afghanistan was one of the stopover for these birds, which generally took around two months to reach India.
(This story was first published in The Maharashtra Herald)
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