Richard Collins: The law intervenes in the case of a recovered crane

Arif Khan Gurjar, a farmer from Uttar Pradesh rescued an injured crane last year. Arif nursed the bird back to health but it never left him Picture: @kausark23776742 

Let justice be done though the heavens fall!

We have a soft spot for cranes in Ireland. Although we drove the species into extinction here 300 years ago, we still call the heron after this faithful departed.

Cranes, it seems, are also loved in India. Arif Khan Gurjar, a farmer in Uttar Pradesh, came upon an injured Sarus crane on his land. He took the bird home and nursed it back to health. The patient should have flown off when well enough, but it refused to leave. Staying on at the farm, it began following its benefactor around. Online video sequences show Arif on his motorbike with the crane flying beside him. The footage ‘went viral’ on social media.

The Uttar Pradesh authorities, however, were not amused. The Sarus is a protected species in India: keeping one in captivity is ‘an offence’. In a ‘search and seize’ swoop on the farm, the crane was taken into custody and released at a wildlife sanctuary. Officials deny reports that it flew away from the refuge. They admit, however, that the bird was unhappy there, so they transferred it to Kanpur Zoo. Arif has been ‘booked’ under the Wildlife Protection Act, accused of keeping a protected bird illegally.

But the authorities may have bitten off more than they can chew. Imprisoning a happy free-flying creature is cruel, critics claim; the crane should be allowed to remain on the farm. The ‘letter of the law’, they argue, need not always be followed — ‘the Sabbath was made for Man, not Man for the Sabbath’.

Arif Khan Gurjar, a farmer from Uttar Pradesh rescued an injured crane last year. Pictures: Akhilesh Yadav facebook

A YouTube clip, showing the crane’s wild excitement when Arif visited it at the zoo, is particularly damning. The law, clearly, ‘is an ass’.

This habeas corpus case has become a minor media sensation. On April 15, The Indian Express, whose motto is ‘Journalism of Courage’, carried the headline: ‘Arif and his Sarus crane: what law is he booked under, what penalty he faces’. An online petition entitled ‘free the Sarus crane now’, is underway. ‘The Uttar Pradesh wildlife authorities’, it’s claimed, ‘look foolish’. They have not ‘done justice to man or beast’.

But is there another side to the story? This bird seems to be ‘imprinted’ on Arif. He is the only person it will tolerate. Reports say that his wife and children can’t enter the crane’s shed for fear of being attacked.

Arif nursed the bird back to health but it never left him. Pictures: Akhilesh Yadav facebook

Imprinting ensures that a youngster will be drawn to, and in due course breed with, a member of its own species. Chicks become imprinted on their parents and siblings as nestlings. There is only a very narrow ’time window’ during which this occurs. Has this bird, therefore, been captive-reared?

‘Sarus’ means ‘lake-bird’ in Hindi. An emblem of Uttar Pradesh, the ‘Northern Province’, it is the world’s tallest flying creature. Seeing these huge grey-white birds, with their red heads, at Bharatpur was an unforgettable experience, although I wasn’t lucky enough to see their spectacular courtship ‘dances’. The ‘island’ nests are up to 2metres in diameter.

Should Arif and his avian friend be left in peace and a large helping of humble pie delivered to the Uttar Pradesh authorities?

‘Ours is not to reason why’, however, ‘ours is but to do and die’!