A heartwarming video of a caged sarus crane overjoyed to see its rescuer, Arif Khan, at Kanpur Zoo weeks after their separation by the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department has gone viral, drawing a lot of reaction from netizens.
On 21 March, the department took the sarus crane away from Khan and booked him for keeping the endangered bird at home, which is illegal as per the Wildlife Protection Act. However, following their separation, the bird reportedly stopped eating, prompting Arif to visit the sarus crane to check up on the poor creature.
BJP politician Varun Gandhi retweeted the video, suggesting that the bird should be given back to Khan.
Several netizens also took to the comment section demanding that the zoo authorities return the bird to Khan.
"The bird has a special bond with the human who rescued and took care of it. He didn’t cage the bird. And none of these forest officials were there when the bird was injured. The bird belongs with Arif. To place it anywhere else is just cruel and inhumane," one Twitter user wrote.