Mohammed Arif is seen standing outside the sarus crane's enclosure in Kanpur zoo.
A unique friendship between a man from Uttar Pradesh and a sarus crane made headlines a few weeks ago. The man from Amethi, Mohammed Arif, had rescued the endangered bird and nursed it back to health. The crane soon started following Arif across the town where he lives and their videos went viral. When the forest department came to know about it, they separated the bird from Arif and even sent him a notice. But the buzz around their friendship did not die, and users kept pleading the government to do something to reunite Arif and the crane.
Now, a heartwarming video of the bird's reaction on seeing Arif after a fortnight is again gaining traction on Twitter and other social media platforms. The footage was captured during Arif's visit to Kanpur zoo, where the crane has been kept in a cage.
The video has been tweeted by Kailash Nath Yadav, who is associated with the Samajwadi Party (SP).
"Today, once again, the speechless crane chirped in agony seeing his life-giving friend Arif, but both were helpless and could not touch each other," Mr Yadav said in his tweet.
The video shows Arif standing outside the bird's enclosure along with a person, who user claimed is SP MLA Amitabh Vajpayee, and wearing protective gear. The sarus, meanwhile, is seen jumping in excitement. The bird even spreads its wings and tries to find a way out.
Twitter users were moved by the video and demanded that the sarus must be freed.
"Request you to hand the saurs crane back to Arif. He had kept it in the open and the bird never caused any harm," tweeted one user. "Look at the love the bird is showing," said another.
Arif found the injured bird in his field last February and cared for it for a year. But just days after the sarus crane was shifted to Kanpur zoo, reports emerged that the bird is not eating food properly.
However, zoo officials said things will improve and said the eventual aim is to release it in the wild.