The chicks are strikingly beautiful. They follow their mother, learning to forage and search for sustenance. Though they cannot yet fly and are still learning to stretch their wings, these young cranes of the species sarus crane (Grus antigone) are now on the brink of their first flight. In a landmark move, conservationists have fitted satellite tags to them for the first time in Nepal.

Six juvenile cranes, aged approximately 100 days and nearing full development, have been fitted with satellite transmitters and colour rings. Three of them were tagged in Rupandehi and the other three in Kapilvastu. The initiative was carried out under technical collaboration with Beijing Forestry University, China while local implementation was led by zoologist Dikpal Krishna Karmacharya of Bhaktapur Multiple Campus and crane conservationist Arjun Kurmi, who is also the chair of Green Youth Lumbini, a local biodiversity conservation group..

“We have installed satellite tags to study their movement, migration and breeding behaviour,” said Karmacharya, who also serves as executive member of the Bird Conservation Nepal (BCN). “We will know which flight paths they take, resting sites they select, what habitats they use at different times, and whether they undertake seasonal trans-boundary movements. This new information cannot easily come through conventional means, so the GPS tag is essential,” he added. It is believed that the outcome will be helpful for the conservation of sarus cranes.

Kurmi described how the tagging operation was carried out. “We targeted sub-adult cranes, still wing-training and not yet flying. Tagging fully adult breeding birds is very challenging; these younger birds were more manageable.” Because the cranes hide in paddy fields and have the same colour as the ripening rice, locating them took time.

“It took us between half an hour to over two hours to capture each bird. We observed them from a distance, then when they walked away we moved in, caught them carefully and fitted the tag,” said Kurmi. At the right leg they placed the satellite tag, and on the left a colour-ring for numbered identification. After tagging, each bird was weighed (7 to 8 kg) and released safely.

Each satellite transmitter has cost around Rs350,000 and is expected to function for 3 to 5 years. According to Karmacharya, the weight of each tag is less than one percent of the bird’s body mass, well under the international guideline of three percent or less. “They have shown no adverse effects and began flying naturally,” he said. The tagging and release were carried out in the presence of officers from the Division Forest Office, ensuring humane handling and safe release.

Once released, the bird’s family association is confirmed via ground monitoring by conservation technicians who track each tagged individual. The satellite link allows remote monitoring of each bird’s latitude, longitude, flight speed and rest period—even battery charge and signal status. “From home we can download data such as how fast it flies per hour, in which direction, which habitats it visits,” said Karmacharya. The monitoring period has been planned for 3 to 5 years.

By doing this, According to Karmacharya, Nepal has become the fourth country in the world to tag sarus cranes with satellite technology. He informed that previous projects tagged seven birds in Cambodia and Vietnam between 1998–2002, ten more from 2015–17, and one adult in India in 2024.

The sarus crane is the world’s tallest flying bird and is mostly found in the Indian sub-continent. The large non-migratory bird was enlisted in the IUCN red list of threatened species in 2000 after its population dwindled. Sarus is one of the nine bird species protected by the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act, 1973.

The sarus cranes are friends to farmers and fields: they feed on crop pests such as insects and rear their young without fear of snakes near nesting sites. They breed typically in nests built after about 31 to 34 days of incubation; the adult may reach five to six feet in height, weigh 10–12 kg, and fly at altitudes of 40–50 feet.

Sarus crane is considered a revered bird locally, and sacred by Buddhist communities. Its pairing behaviour has inspired cultural symbols of peace and fidelity. Indeed, the Lumbini municipality has even declared it the official ‘city bird’.

Nepal is home to four crane species —the Karyangkurung (Demoiselle crane), the Lakshman crane and the Kalikantha crane — and of these the Sarus is the only one that is largely non-migratory within the country.

As per a study carried out in 2023, around 690 sarus cranes were present in Nepal, with more than 80 per cent of the population concentrated in the districts of Rupandehi, Kapilvastu and Nawalparasi West.

The sarus crane population is on the rise in recent years in Nepal. However, there still are several challenges to its conservation. Nepal has seen an increase in the number of the species’ death in recent years, according to conservationists.

Live electricity wires and stray dogs are major threats to sarus cranes. Cranes are often electrocuted when they come in contact with live electricity wires, and are vulnerable to attacks by stray dogs while foraging in the fields. As many as 50 sarus cranes have died due to electrocution in Nepal over the past 13 years.