Another UP man booked for keeping a Sarus

Lucknow, March 31 After Arif of Amethi, it is now Afroz of Uttar Pradesh's Sultanpur who has been booked for keeping a Sarus.

Mohammed Afroz, 27, shares a deep bond with a sarus that came flying to the fishpond of his village and started staying with him since September last year.

Afroz has been booked for violation of provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act.

The action followed a social media post that revealed how a local in Sultanpur was also sharing a unique bond with a Sarus crane.

The development comes close on the heels of a similar incident reported from Amethi where one Mohd Arif was booked under the Wildlife Protection Act and a Sarus crane, that had started living with him, was taken away by the forest department.

According to Mohd Afroz, who owns a mobile handset store in Lambhua tehsil in Sultanpur, he found the Sarus crane near a fishpond of his village in September 2022.

"I found the bird alone and offered it food like any other human would do. I was amazed that when I started going home the bird started following me and reached my residence," he said.

He further said, "We were already used to living with a Sarus because my father Mohammed Shafiq had a Sarus bird with him since 2019. He had found it in a field and later the bird started living with them and got mixed with the whole family. We lovingly called the bird 'Sweety'."

He further added that in March 2022 that 'Sweety' suddenly died due to electrocution in Sonbarsa village.

"The death shocked my father, affecting his health. When we found this Sarus and named it 'Sweety', the health of my father also improved," added Afroz.

DFO, Sultanpur, R.K. Tripathi said that as per law, the Sarus crane is a protected bird under Wildlife Act and cannot be kept at home/ residence.

"We have taken away the bird and booked Afroz. His statements have been recorded and a team is probing the case," he said.

Meanwhile, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India has sent a request to the principal chief conservator of forests, wildlife, Uttar Pradesh, Mamta Sanjeev Dubey, requesting her to rehabilitate and immediately release Sarus crane from Kanpur zoo back to the bird's natural habitat.