Injured sarus crane refuses to leave its human saviour after recovery

A sarus crane in India (not the injured bird)

(Image credit: Panoramic Images/Alamy Stock Photo)

published 9 March 2023

An injured sarus crane that was rescued by an Indian farm worker a year ago is now so devoted to the man, it rarely leaves his side. Arif Gurjar, from Uttar Pradesh, found the bird in a field last year. With no vet nearby, he took it home, bandaged the wound on its leg, and treated it with a mustard oil and turmeric paste. Within weeks the crane had recovered, but it declined to go back into the wild and now lives with Gurjar, flying beside him when he travels around on his motorbike, and eating from his plate. “On some days he flies away but always returns by sunset,” Gurjar said. “Friendship thrives on freedom.”

Woman eats a scone at 244 National Trust sites

A woman from London has completed a decade-long quest to eat a scone at every National Trust property that serves them. Sarah Merker, 49, ended up visiting 244 sites across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. She went to many of the tearooms with her husband Peter, until his death in 2018. “He’d been there for so much of it and obviously I have memories of doing it with him,” she said. “So, for me, it was really important to finish it for him as well.”

After two decades of negotiations, UN member states have reached a historic agreement to protect marine life in international waters. As things stand, two-thirds of the world’s oceans are considered international waters, meaning that all countries can fish, ship and conduct research in them; currently, only about 1% of these “high seas” are protected. The treaty, which was agreed in New York, provides a legal framework that will allow nations to propose the creation of new protected areas, covering far more of the seas.