Lucknow, June 23 : The population of the Sarus crane, named the state bird of Uttar Pradesh in July 2015, has been increasing and the trend is expected to continue this year too, forest officials said.

The information has come after the first round of the two-day Sarus census.

In 2021, the Forest Department survey counts put the Sarus crane figure at 17,329 in 2021, 19,188 in 2022 and 19,522 in 2023 and the trend is expected to continue this year too.

Uttar Pradesh's principal chief conservator of forests, Sanjay Srivastav, said, "We carried out the first phase of the counting on June 20 and 21 in the bird sanctuaries and forest areas where these birds frequent. The counts were recorded twice a day, in the morning and evening. Now we will commence the second phase that comprises ground trooping by forest rangers, and forest officers who also inquire about Sarus sightings from the masses."

"The process is time-consuming as all the data needs to be collected from different districts and ranges. That is why announcing the numbers may take a few more days," he added.

He said that it is expected that the Sarus crane numbers will go up this year as well.

Officials confirmed having recorded a marginal increase in bird population in the Meerut and Bijnor forest divisions.

In Meerut, 47 adult and 4 minor cranes were counted in the Malipur area of Bheekund wetland, Draupadi Ghat and Sikanderpur forest area of Hastinapur forest range while in the Bijnor division, a total of 146 adult and minor cranes were spotted during the survey, officials said.

These survey numbers indicated six new members had been increased in the Sarus cranes' population in the Meerut Forest division since the last survey in June 2023 and seven new members added in the Bijnor Forest division since the last survey in December 2023.

Sub-Divisional Officer of Bijnor Forest division, Gyan Singh, said that a maximum of 53 cranes were spotted in the Amangarh area, 37 in the Nagina forest range, 20 in Bijnor and Dhampur, 11 in Nazibabad and five in Chandpur.

/IANS