New Delhi: In the city of Amethi in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, a citizen has lost his friendship with the stork, the state bird.
According to Indian media reports, a case has been registered under the Wildlife Protection Act against Mohammad Arif, who made headlines by befriending India’s state bird, the stork, in Amethi city.
The forest department has issued a notice citing the Wildlife Protection Act and has summoned a citizen named Arif, if the citizen does not respond satisfactorily, the forest department can take further action against him.
Farmer Muhammad Arif shot to media fame last year when he brought home and nursed an injured stork crane in his village Mandhaka in Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi district.
Arif’s troubles began when Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav visited Arif’s house on March 5 to find out more about Sars and Arif’s friendship, and he shared the information along with pictures on Twitter.
Wildlife officials visited Arif’s house and seized the stork crane and shifted it to Kanpur Zoological Park, where it has been quarantined for 15 days.
On the other hand, Ranveer Mishra, Assistant Forest Guard of Goriganj Range of the Forest Department issued a notice and summoned Arif to his office on April 2 at 11 am for questioning.
It may be noted that 30-year-old Mohammad Arif saved the life of a badly injured Sars crane in February 2022 and took care of it by keeping it with him. After full recovery in April this year, the stork did not go but preferred to stay with Arif as a pet bird.
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