Concrete sprawl in Buddha’s birthplace in Nepal threatens sarus cranes

Concrete sprawl in Buddha’s birthplace in Nepal threatens sarus cranes

LUMBINI, Nepal — Legend has it that before he became the Buddha, a young Prince Siddhartha Gautama nursed an injured sarus crane (Antigone antigone)  back to health. Since then, the bird and the faith have been closely intertwined, and nowhere more so than in Lumbini gardens in Nepal, hailed as the birthplace of the Buddha. Yet with the recent commemoration of Vesak, the holiest festival in Buddhism, marking the birth, enlightenment and death of…