In a bid to get back the rare migratory Siberian cranes to India, Environment Ministry has signed an MoU with Siberia to coordinate its conservation and protection. Following large number of reported killing of these species enroute their migratory paths especially across Pakistan and Afganisthan, the Ministry has signed MoUs with a number of countries that the birds fly over before reaching India to ensure their safe passage. These countries include Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan One of their brief halting points was the Abi-I-Istada Lake in Afghanistan, from there it would take them around eight weeks to reach Bharatpur. Environment Minister informed the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday that the MoU on Conservation of these rare species was signed under the auspices of the Convention on Migratory Species of wild animals (Bonn Convention) to develop partnership with other countries along migratory route of these species. The Governments of India and Russia have also signed a bilateral treaty to conserve cranes and ensure their safety in the breeding and wintering sites. According to estimates available at its peak, in 1965, Bharatpur had over 200 Siberian Cranes. However, the number dwindled to five in 1993.Then, after a gap of three years, four were spotted in 1996. This was reduced to barely a pair of these birds by the late 1990s, following by the last pair seen in 2001. It is clear that their route has undergone a change owing to a variety of reasons,” said Dr. Asad Rahmani, noted ornithologist. He explained that the Siberian Cranes’ route to India was through Afghanistan. Dodging the bombings by US fighter jets which tried to root out the erstwhile Taliban regime in October 2001 and after the 9/11 strikes in the US, the Siberian Cranes managed to reach India for the last time. The Minister said the Ministry is also taking necessary measures to restore the wetland character of Keoladeo National Park, which had been the major wintering site of Siberian Crane.