Samajwadi Party Slams BJP, Claims Sarus Crane Missing From Sanctuary; DFO Disagrees

Akhilesh Yadav, the leader of the Samajwadi Party, claimed on Thursday that the Sarus crane that had been taken to the Samaspur bird sanctuary by officials from the forest department after being rescued and cared for by a man in Amethi for a year went missing before being found and saved by some locals. The Sarus was sighted in the sanctuary on Thursday morning, according to Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Rupesh Srivastava, and it did not go missing. Thank you to the bird-loving 'Bi Saiya' village for feeding and rescuing the Sarus and carrying out the tasks left undone by the Uttar Pradesh administration. The fact is that love has the greatest power of all. The BJP members' anger may lessen a little if they realise this in due time, Yadav said on Twitter.

The Samajwadi Party chairman tweeted earlier in the day that the bird had vanished and that it was a significant issue. "The renowned sarus, which the UP Forest Department forcefully removed from Amethi and released to Samaspur Bird Sanctuary in Raebareli, is now gone. Such government indifference to Uttar Pradesh's national bird is a grave concern. The BJP administration has to track down the Sarus right now. Otherwise, the whole world's bird enthusiasts will get agitated. Shameful!," Yadav said in a Hindi tweet. Also, he tagged a news article in which a forest department officer was reported as claiming that the sarus crane had vanished from the bird sanctuary. "The Chief Minister can offer some name to the missing sarus," Yadav remarked. Find him, nevertheless, and save his life. The sarus has the same sentimental value for the whole state of Uttar Pradesh as the chief minister's favourite dog, "Golu."

Later, he posted an eight-second clip of a guy feeding the bird, claiming that it had been rescued. In the Mandkha hamlet of the Amethi area, Arif Khan Gurjar shared a home with a Sarus crane that followed him to his fields and was treated as a part of the family. A year before, Gurjar discovered the bird in his fields, asleep and suffering from a broken leg. He carried the bird home, attended to the wound, and supported the leg with a bamboo splint. The bird was able to fly again, but it did not do so. It followed Gurjar everywhere he went. The bird was escorted by representatives of the forest department on Tuesday to the Samaspur Bird Sanctuary in Raebareli.

Divisional Forest Officer D N Singh had said on Wednesday that "whatever action has been done is with Arif's approval." These birds always live in couples, according to the authority. There was considerable worry since this one was living alone. On Wednesday, Akhilesh Yadav claimed that the forest department had taken away the guy who was caring for the Sarau crane in the name of liberating the state bird of Uttar Pradesh. He said in a tweet, "It remains to be seen what action is done to release the national bird from the one who feeds it.