Selling live Falcon at mela
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: November 29, 2013 -

A wounded Falcon tied to its leg being put up for sale.

And, plateful of dry venison, winged species and other jungle fowls for anyone who want to take a bite!!

This does not obviously evoke the picture of a mela meant for promotion of organic products by any stretch of imagination.

But sadly, this is exactly what is happening in an ongoing mela organised by an NGO funded by the Government of India at Tangkhul Naga Long (TNL) ground right in the heart of Ukhrul down with the stated objective of showcasing and popularising the organic products of Ukhrul district.

This unpalatable picture of a wounded but live Falcon up for sale and participating mela stalls offering choicest wildlife meats to the visitors also has also come as a sad commentary on the state of wildlife conservation and protection in Manipur, particularly in the hill districts.

Some may question us what is all these fuss over a captured Falcon or roasted meats of wild animals and birds being put up for sale in a mela, far away from the State Capital in a hill town where most people go for hunting game animals and birds without any restriction from anywhere all these years?

But that exactly is what we are really concern about.

In the absence of any authority in sight, most people in the hills continue to take pride in considering themselves as traditional hunters and they indulge in indiscriminate hunting of birds and animals to extinction without any fear of brushing with the wrong side of the law.

In such a situation, all these talks about wildlife protection and conservation and the apparent concerns shown during conferences, seminars, workshops or Wild Life Week observances at Imphal is not going to help in ensuring an environment where wild animals and birds can live freely and thrive if the people in other parts of the State, specially the hill districts are not sensitized on the issue.

Efforts for protection and conservation of wildlife in Manipur may have been started as early as 1931 when Captain CLW Harvey, the then President of Manipur State Durbar, promulgated the Game Rules of Manipur for the first time.

This was years ahead of implementation of The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, which came into effect since May 15, 1973 to ensure legal protection to all forms of wildlife in the State.

But we need to admit the fact that the message of wildlife protection and conservation is yet to reach out to the interior parts of Manipur with the authorities concerned remaining in deep slumber and abdicating their responsibility.

This is exactly what was witnessed in the Ukhrul mela where even the Deputy Commissioner/Magistrate of the district, who inaugurated the mela as Chief Guest, could do nothing much apart from meekly requesting the lady owning the stall selling the wounded live Falcon to "please release the bird".

Wildlife protection and implementation of Wildlife Act should be obviously much more than a mere request of releasing the wounded bird.