Let’s Help the Demoiselle Crane!

Our republic is a most important habitat of this “Red Book” bird. The main causes of the decline in numbers are hunting along migration routes, uncontrolled tourism, and long-term drought at the nesting sites. Currently, the main nesting grounds of this species are located on the territory of our steppes. Recently, the senior administrator of the Central Khurul, Yonten Gelung, held a meeting with the executive director of the Working Group on Cranes of Eurasia, a researcher at the A. N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Elena Ilyashenko. She noted that in recent years the number of self-flowing artesian springs in Kalmykia has been declining. To conserve water resources, local farmers accumulate water in reservoirs, from which they fill the drinking troughs for cows and sheep as needed. Demoiselle cranes like to nest near livestock farms, using such troughs to drink. However, the little chicks cannot always reach the water. Often the troughs are filled only during the watering of the livestock, and the rest of the time they stand empty. “To help the cranes raise their chicks, we ask farmers to place low water-filled troughs no higher than 15 cm until the end of June. And also not to treat fields with bromine-containing preparations,” the researcher Ilyashenko appealed. Yonten Gelung supported the scientists and in turn appeals to his fellow countrymen with a request to help preserve the demoiselle cranes, which are now under threat of extinction. It is especially significant to do good deeds during the sacred month of Ürs Sar. Manakhs, the future of this “Red Book” bird also depends on our people.