The Sarus is said to mate for life and this has won it a certain affection and protection. The Mughal emperor Jahangir describes an encounter with this bird during one of his travels:

An eunuch went to the bank of a large tank there is in the village, and caught two young saras, which are a kind of crane; at night, when we stopped at this halting-place, two large saras appeared making loud cries near the ghusul-khana, which they had placed near the edge of the tank, as if somebody were exercising oppression on them. They fearlessly began their cries and came forward. It occurred to me that certainly some kind of wrong had been done to them and probably their young had been taken. After enquiry was made the eunuch who had taken the young saras brought them before me. When the saras heard the cries of these young ones, they without control threw themselves upon them, and suspecting that they had had no food, each of the two saras placed food in the mouths of the young ones, and made much lamentation. Taking the two young ones between them, and stretching out their wings and fondling them, they went off to their nest. (More on Jahangir and the Sarus)