It was in March last year that I stole a trip to Sultanpur, a few minutes by road past Gurgaon, Haryana. It seemed every bit like the wetlands of my dreams. It was the end of a prolonged winter, and the last stragglers — shovellers and gadwalls — were rehearsing their departure. There were nest boxes placed by the DelhiBird group but, much like government-subsidy housing, they had not found takers. Peafowl and Nilgai aplenty. And among sundry distractions, a Rhesus Macaque that had earned the ire of a murder of crows.
But I was here for another reason. I had heard from my friend Gopi Sundar that a pair of Sarus Cranes (Grus antigone) were nesting at Sultanpur. But, he warned me in the same breath, that few chicks had survived predation by dogs. Attempts to remove them from the park have been met with tepid enthusiasm from the park officials.
Watch, and you’ll see why they are dangerous.
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