Eternal Attachment of Demoiselle Crane (<i>Anthropoides virgo</i>) to the Thar Desert of Rajasthan, India

Assessment of Major Threats for Conservation of Anthropoides virgo in The Thar Desert of Rajasthan (India)

“…Another effect of the increase of irrigation in the desert region is the alarming increase in the human density i.e. 165 people per square kilometre (Gehlot et al 2021a) as well as livestock populations including sheep, goats, cows, and camel which are present in the desert region along with hundreds of shepherds moving with their herds. Thus, there is insufficient habitat left for the survival of crane and desert wild fauna owing to the newly irrigated area and its occupants (Sharma 2001).…”

“…The Thar is about 640 km long and 160 km wide and shifts continuously from the southwest due to high wind velocity (Kotia 2008). It is one of the bio-geographic regions of India and is very rich in avian diversity, particularly migratory birds (Gehlot et al 2021a). Birds are ideal bio-indicators and useful models for studying a variety of environmental problems.…”

“…The famous winter ground of Demoiselle Crane is Khichan, where a large congregation of the visitor Crane forms every winter (Jain et al 2013). The Thar desert has a very significant Avian diversity (Gehlot et al 2021a) but, due to alarming increase of anthropogenic pressure, such as uncontrolled development and increase of urbanization, and climate change the population and diversity of bird species are on a decline (Chen et al 2011(Chen et al , Şekercioğlu et al 2012. Increased anthropogenic activities is resulting in habitat destruction, fragmentation and altering of the birds' habitat, thus increasing threats not only for birds but also several resident faunal species as reported by Datta (2011) and Gautam and Kafle (2007).…”

Nurturing orphaned Indian Grey Wolf at Machia Biological Park, Jodhpur, India

“…Literature on hand raising orphaned canids has been studied and followed to raise wolf pups into an adult. Hand-raising has been done in zoos in instances where the mother is unwilling to rear the young one or in circumstances in the wild where pups are being abandoned by the mother (Dhoot et al 2003;Gehlot et al 2020). Indian Peninsular Wolf or the Grey Wolf is the only sub-species of wolf that mates in winter (Jhala 2013).…”

“…Body measurements and other physiological parameters are recorded weekly to ensure whether the pups were showing proper growth as per their age. Environmental parameters, viz., humidity, temperature, and moisture were maintained as required for the species using an air conditioner (Gehlot et al 2020) and hygiene and biosafety measures were taken as much as possible as this is crucial while raising orphaned young animals. An assistant was appointed round the clock to look after pups in case emergency or complications arise.…”