Bharatpur:
India will start a Siberian crane breeding program in the country to increase the number of birds in the wild. While a similar plan did not take off a couple of years ago, the environment ministry is hopeful that this time around 'technology' will be the key mover.
Cranes are given flight training as part of an experiment in the US to train the cranes raised in captivity to team up with those born in the wild. The microlite aircraft guides them on their migratory route till they get accustomed.
Now India will do the same to breed the Siberian cranes at Bharatpur where their numbers have dropped drastically from more than 120 pairs eight years ago to a handful which arrives from Siberia.
One of the main reasons is the lack of water at Bharatpur and the encroachment around the wetland.
While the government plans to bring in piped water to Bharatpur by April, it has also given states two months to identify wetlands across the country which will be declared as sanctuaries under the new wetland notification passed two months ago to protect similar eco-systems.
But that may not be enough to ensure that the Siberian cranes bred there survive and manage to get to Siberia and back.
"They go over Afghanistan where they have M-16 guns and they get shot down. We will try and use technology so that the birds return to Siberia not over Afghanistan but China," says Jairam Ramesh, Minister of state of Environment and Forests.
However, it still remains to be seen if a combination of new laws and technology will be enough to protect these habitats and revive those species in trouble.
Cranes are given flight training as part of an experiment in the US to train the cranes raised in captivity to team up with those born in the wild. The microlite aircraft guides them on their migratory route till they get accustomed.
Now India will do the same to breed the Siberian cranes at Bharatpur where their numbers have dropped drastically from more than 120 pairs eight years ago to a handful which arrives from Siberia.
One of the main reasons is the lack of water at Bharatpur and the encroachment around the wetland.
While the government plans to bring in piped water to Bharatpur by April, it has also given states two months to identify wetlands across the country which will be declared as sanctuaries under the new wetland notification passed two months ago to protect similar eco-systems.
But that may not be enough to ensure that the Siberian cranes bred there survive and manage to get to Siberia and back.
"They go over Afghanistan where they have M-16 guns and they get shot down. We will try and use technology so that the birds return to Siberia not over Afghanistan but China," says Jairam Ramesh, Minister of state of Environment and Forests.
However, it still remains to be seen if a combination of new laws and technology will be enough to protect these habitats and revive those species in trouble.
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