Satellite-tagged Amur falcon shot in Manipur

Dimapur, November 16

Days after it was satellite-tagged and released, an Amur falcon, ‘Manipur’, eponymously named after the northeastern state, was shot down by unknown miscreants at a roosting site during its migratory passage through the region.

The incident has prompted the state government to discuss cancellation of air gun licences in next Cabinet meeting while the district administration concerned has imposed a ban on air guns. 

Amur falcons are known to breed in southeast Russia and northern China and migrate west through India and across the Arabian Sea to southern Africa where they spend their winter, making a round trip of at least 20,000 km every year, travelling between their breeding and wintering grounds. The resilient falcons arrive in large numbers in October in Nagaland and a few other places in the North-East, including Tamenglong in Manipur. 

‘Manipur’, a male migratory raptor, was one of the two Amur falcons to be tagged for the first time in the state. The second , a female, was christened ‘Tamenglong’ after the district where it was captured and released. — PTI