DOI: 10.5061/dryad.h70rxwdq6
title: Population and conservation threats on the vulnerable Sarus Crane (Grus antigone) in Nepal

description: 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.
description: 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.
description: # 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](mailto: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.