Population and conservation threats on the vulnerable Sarus Crane (Grus antigone) in Nepal
Abstract
The global decline in biodiversity is driven by habitat loss, fragmentation, over-exploitation, climate change, invasive species, pollution, and infrastructure development, especially outside protected areas where inadequate policies exacerbate risks. These threats have impacted the population of large wading bird species like the Sarus Crane (Grus antigone), inhabiting agricultural-wetland areas. Despite predicted increases in built-up areas and declines in agriculture and wetlands areas, there are few studies on the globally vulnerable Sarus Crane in Nepal, focusing on its population status and conservation threats. We assessed the pre-breeding population status of the Sarus Crane in ten 10 known districts of Nepal from April to June 2023. Overall, we recorded 690 Sarus Cranes in five districts of Nepal, with 685 individuals and 11 roosting sites reported in Lumbini Province alone. No Sarus Cranes were observed in the other five districts during this period. Wetland areas and distance to transmission lines had a positive influence on Sarus Crane occurrences, while built-up and farmland areas had a negative influence during the pre-breeding season. Additionally, we recorded 42 fatalities of Sarus Cranes due to electrocution and collisions in the last 12 years in Lumbini Province. Our study provides crucial baseline data for Sarus Crane conservation policies, especially during the dry season when populations congregate in larger flocks. Protecting wetlands within and near farmland areas and adopting transboundary conservation approaches are imperative for the long-term conservation of the Sarus Crane and its habitat.
README: Population and conservation threats on the vulnerable Sarus Crane (Grus antigone) in Nepal
Contact Information
- Name: Dr. Hari Prasad Sharma
- Email: hpsharma@cdztu.edu.np
File/Folder Details
- Description: a comma-delimited file containing information about individual counts of Sarus crane in Lumbini Province, Nepal. The file is prepared for analysis in the R program but can be reformated for use in other statistical software.
- Format(s): .csv
- Data name: "Data.csv"
- Data structure: 93rows*7columns
This is a dataset containing information on the Sarus crane presence/absence across 5km*5km grids in Lumbini province, Nepal. The dataset contains information on 93 observations for the Sarus crane along with the values of different variables for each observation and nonobservation locations. The dataset can be analyzed using generalized linear modelling in any statistical software.
Variables:
- SN: Serial number corresponding to each survey grid
- Sarus P/A: Presence/absence of Sarus in each grid
- Water: Area of water bodies and wetlands (meter square) within a 2500m radius from the centroid of each grid.
- Farmland: Area of farmland (meter square) within a 2500m radius from the centroid of each grid.
- Builtup: Area of human settlement (meter square) within a 2500m radius from the centroid of each grid.
- Dist Road: Distance to the road in meters from each survey site.
- Traline: Length of transmission line in meters inside each survey grid
Code/Software
This dataset can be analysed using generalized linear modelling in R or any other statistical software.
Usage notes
The data is in .csv (MS-DOS) format of Excel and can be analyzed using generalized linear modelling in any statistical software like R program, PAST, or SPSS.