An Indian man who fell in love with a crane is pleading to be reunited with his bird.
A man in love with a sarus crane has been separated from his bird
Muhammad Arif, a farmer in the Uttar Pradesh state, discovered the sarus crane in a field with a broken leg last year and formed a bond with the animal as he nursed it back to health using traditional medicine.
Arif insists that he and the rare crane are in love and he has even removed himself from his family and friends to live and share meals with the bird.
However, Indian forestry officials arrived at his house and took the crane to a zoo over 150 miles away while charging Arif under the Wildlife Protection Act for keeping an endangered bird.
He told the Daily Telegraph newspaper: "I am in deep pain after they separated my friend from me. It is like a member of my family has been caged. It troubles me.
"The government should free us from this pain."
Arif has stayed close to the zoo in Kanpur since the crane was taken from him and accused forestry officials of taking his happiness away.
He said of the bird: "It was the first time I had felt so strongly for anyone."