Sarus crane  (Grus antigone)

The global population of the sarus crane is estimated to have decreased to as little as 5 percent of its size in 1850; this devastating decline is mainly attributed to the loss of wetland habitat (7). Throughout southern and southeast Asia, wetlands have been lost and degraded due to agricultural expansion, industrial development and pollution (9). Sarus cranes have been lost from much of their former range throughout Indochina and numbers have fallen dramatically even in the previous stronghold of India. Trade in both adult birds and chicks also represent a significant threat to this species, particularly in its Southeast Asia range (5). There is some evidence that the Australian population is increasing in numbers due to changing land use, but this requires further investigation (5).

The sarus crane is fully protected in all of the countries within which it occurs, and international trade is restricted by the listing of this species on Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) (7). With the exception of Laos and Myanmar, all range states are also signatories to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, which encourages international cooperation for the conservation of these vital ecosystems (10). Although mainly associated with private lands, these cranes are also found within a number of protected areas such as Keoladeo National Park in Rajasthan, India, Ang Trapeang Thmor, Cambodia and Tram Chim National Park, Vietnam (2). Education campaigns have been carried out in India, Nepal, Laos and Cambodia (2) and the Wildlife Institute of India has organised a national census of this species from 1999 to 2002 (7) (11). The Indian Cranes and Wetlands Working Group have continued these counts since 2005. The adequate preservation of suitable wetland habitat and sustaining existing land use practices will be the key to ensuring the survival of this emotive and elegant bird (6) (8).