A large number of Amur falcons have started arriving in Tamenglong district of Manipur bordering Nagaland, official reports said. Bird lovers and Forest Department officials feel that despite massive awareness campaigns some people have been catching these winged visitors coming from countries as far as 30,000 km.
To protect the birds, Tamenglong District Collector Hungyo Worshing has issued an order that all air guns be deposited with the village authorities before October 31. The authorities have been asked to submit a report on the action taken. The order added that the air guns would be kept in the custody of the village authorities till the falcons leave Manipur, which is usually around November 30.
A person catching Amur falcon for consumption or sale is liable to be punished under Sections 50 and 51 of The Manipur Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
Recent awareness campaigns among the people in Tamenglong district had been eliciting encouraging responses. Elders also had been urging the youth not to catch the birds since they helped in controlling the insects which destroyed the standing paddy crops.
Officials have been monitoring the Amur falcons using satellite tags. However, some of the birds had been found to be shot with air guns. There are reports that some of these birds have been coming to Tamenglong for more than three consecutive years.
Reports say that the number of the migratory birds coming to the Loktak lake, the largest fresh water lake in the Northeast, is drastically decreasing due to their being caught, water contamination and large scale use of poison to catch fish.
