The Sarus crane's friendship with Amethi's Mohammed Arif had gone viral on social media.
The Sarus crane that made headlines due to its friendship with a man from Uttar Pradesh is slowly adapting to the ways of the wild at Kanpur zoo. News agency PTI quoted zoo officials as saying that the bird is gradually shifting from cooked food to the more suitable diet of raw food. The Sarus became friends with Mohammed Arif from Amethi after he rescued the endangered bird and nursed it back to health. However, forest officials separated the bird from Arif and sent it to the zoo.
It is now being trained to be rehabilitated into the wild.
"The sarus crane is being rehabilitated for the wild by slowly changing its habit of eating cooked food like maggi, daal, rice and khichdi to eating a raw diet that is more suitable for wild birds like cranes," Zoo Director Krishna Kumar Singh told PTI on Thursday.
Mr Singh said they have so far attained 80% success in helping the crane adapt to a suitable diet that includes raw grains, insects, crustaceans, spinach and water hyacinth.
Since its arrival on March 25, the Sarus crane has been living in a 40 x 25 foot enclosure. It has been cut off from almost all human contact with a live feed beaming its images to the zoo director's office.
"Once the bird recovers its health completely, it will be sent back to its true home of the wilderness," said Mr Singh.
The bird spent a year with Arif, so it will take more time for the official to rehabilitate it into the forest. The Sarus still prefers human company over wildlife and being fed by hand.
During its stay with the Amethi farmer, the crane used to accompany Arif Gurjar to his fields and was accepted "like a family member".
Last month, Arif met the bird at Kanpur zoo and the video of their interaction had gone viral on social media.