Poaching, selling of Amur falcon banned
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, October 07 2023: Tamenglong district's deputy commissioner (DC) on Saturday declared ban on trapping, killing, and selling of Amur falcon, a small raptor of the falcon family, and directed all licenses holders of air guns to deposit their weapons at the nearest police station, outposts, and officials concerned at the earliest.

In a notification, the DC stated that the government has taken up precautionary measures against hunting and killing these migratory birds during their sojourn in Tamenglong district in the winter months.

This migratory bird breeds in south-eastern Siberia and Northern China before migrating in large flocks across north-eastern India and over the Arabian Sea to winter in Southern and East African coasts.

The Amur falcons spend their summers at their breeding grounds in southeast Russia and northern China.

They migrate to their wintering grounds in South Africa, from where they start their return journey in April-May, undertaking a yearly journey of about 20,000 km.

In between, they stop in India's northeastern states.

In their journey, these pigeon-sized birds arrive in large numbers during October in Nagaland and Manipur besides a few places in the northeast.

They leave the region in November after having enough food for their nonstop flight to Africa where they spend their winters.

Notably, the satellite-tagged female Amur falcon known as Longleng, which flew non-stop to reach Somalia in November in 2018, has returned to India - on her way to a breeding area in northern China - a Wildlife Institute of India (WII) scientist said.

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