Manipur to conduct census of Amur falcon, world’s longest travelling raptors
The forest is all set to hold a series of programmes to spread awareness among the villages to protect the winged guests
The Manipur Forest Department will carry out a head count of Amur falcons-the world’s longest travelling raptors- in Tamenglong district.
“We have engaged a well-known NGO in the state for conducting census at the roosting sites. They will carry out the head count when the birds completely arrive in Tamenglong,” said Divisional Forest Officer Amandeep of Tamenglong district, on Friday.
“Once the census is conducted, we will maintain data on their (falcons) arrival,” he added.
The Amur falcons, locally known as Akhuaipuina, usually arrive in Manipur in thousands, mostly in Tamenglong in mid-October from their breeding grounds in South Eastern Siberia and Northern China.
These pigeon-sized birds, which undertake a yearly journey covering up to 22,000 km, leave the region at November-end after having enough food for their non-stop flight to Africa, where they spend their winters.
They also cross over the Indian Ocean between Western India and tropical East Africa, a journey of more than 4,000 km, which also includes nocturnal flight. This bird is protected under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972.
The district’s forest unit as well as Tamenglogn based Rainforest Club Tamenglong (RCT) are all set to hold a series of programmes jointly to spread awareness among the villages, mostly the youths, to protect and show their love to the winged guest during their stint.
Meanwhile, barely a week after Tamenglong’s district magistrate L Angshim Dangshawa released an order, banning on hunting, catching, killing and selling of the birds and using of air guns during the raptors’ roosting period, his Noney counterpart, Joseph Pauline Kamson, also issued a similar order on Friday asking the 13 village authorities and other areas of Noney to keep their air guns in the respective custody of the village authorities.
“This time, we are planning to tag satellite-transmitters on two healthy birds to study their migratory routes and for this purpose we have contacted Wildlife Institute of India experts,” the forest officer said.
“We will soon engage village volunteers for carrying out patrolling along with our own forest guards at the roosting sites to safeguard Amur falcons.”
The radio-tagging programme of Amur Falcon in Manipur’s Tamenglong was undertaken in two phases, first in 2018 and then in 2019, to conserve wildlife and also to study the route of these long-distance migratory birds and the environmental patterns along the route as India is a signatory to an international agreement on conservation of migratory birds of prey.
