Unusually High Mortality of Cranes in Areas Adjoining Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan

2004·0.59 MB·

by  Gargi Rana

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
UNUSUALLY HIGH MORTALITY OF CRANES IN AREAS ADJOINING
12.
KEOLADEO NATIONAL PARK, BHARATPUR, RAJASTHAN
On November23, 2000, fifteen cranes- twelve Sams parathionwassprayedfromanaircraft(Newton 1979). Lethal
Cranes Grus antigone and three Common Cranes Grusgms levels of pesticides were detected in the tissues of Sarus
- were found dead in the agricultural fields ofAjan dam, a CraneandRingDove(=EurasianCollared-Dove)Streptopelia
temporary water reservoir about 500 m southwest of the decciocto in Keoladeo (Vijayan 1991). Detectable quantities
Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan. The Sarus ofpesticides have been found in the tissues ofSarus Crane,
Crane isaresident,andtheCommonCraneisawintermigrant White-backed Vulture Gyps bengalensis, Egyptian Vulture
tothe Parkand its adjoining areas from Octoberto March. Neophronpercnopterusandfish(A.M. Bhagwatpers. comm.
The temporary reservoir is the only source ofwaterto 2001, PrakashandRana2001).
the Park. Waterretained in the dam during monsoon is used Cranes are large, long-lived, slow breeding birds and
for agricultural practices during the year. There is regular areprominent indicatorsofthe health ofthewetland(Ali and
movement ofthe cranes between the Ajan dam and the Park Ripley 1989, Jonhsgard 1983, Meine and Archibald 1996).
forfoodandroosting(RamachandranandVijayan 1994). Nearly 20% ofthe total population ofSarus Cranes in and
The reason of death of the cranes could not be around the Park was lost in a day, which is acause ofserious
ascertained, but circumstantial evidence suggested that they concern.
had died due to consumption ofpesticide-treated seeds. The
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
buccal cavity,esophagusandgizzardwerestuffedwithwheat
seeds. The farmer confirmed that he had sown the seeds the
previousnight aftertreatingthem with pesticide. He showed We thank the Rajasthan Forest Department for the
theemptycontainerwhichhadChloropyrifos25%ECprinted permissiontoworkinthePark, U.S. Fishand Wildlife Service
on it. The farmer had treated the seeds as it was a drought for funding the project and the Bombay Natural History
year, and water scarcity would result in heavy termite Society, especially Dr. A.R. Rahmani, Director, BNHS for
infestation. Another reason for treating the seeds with encouragement and valuable comments.
pesticide was to keep birds offthe field. The farmerthought
thatthestrongsmellofpesticidefromthetreatedgrainswould April2,2002 GARGI RANA
prevent the birds from eatingthem. VIBHU PRAKASH1
Chloropyrifos is a toxic and potent organophosphate. BombayNatural HistorySociety,
A large number of pesticide preparations are used around Hornbill House, S.B. Singh Road,
Keoladeo National Park, and organophosphates are most Mumbai400023, Maharashtra, India.
commonly used (Prakash and Rana 2001). The
organophosphates do not remain in the ecosystem as they 'Present Address: BNHS Field Station,
disintegrate quickly, but are highlytoxic (Newton 1979) and F-23,HMTColony,Pinjore 134 101,
are known to cause mass mortality ofbirds in areas ofusage District Panchkula,
(Morzer-Bruyne 1963). In parts ofAfrica, high mortality of Haryana,lndia.
birdswasrecordedduringQueliacontroloperationsinwhich Email:[email protected]
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Meine. Curt D. & George W. Archibald (Eds) (1996): The Cranes: Ramachandran,N.K.&V.S. Vijayan(1994): DistributionandGeneral
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