Nagaland welcomes its winged guests from Africa

  • | Friday | 2nd November, 2018

YAONGYIMCHEN: With a dip in the mercury, the people of Nagaland 's Longleng district have started welcoming their annual winged guests, the Amur falcon . "The Amur falcons take off in the third week of September and start reaching the roosting sites in Nagaland from early November. "The first batch of Amur falcons has arrived at their roosting site. The residents of Yaongyimchen, Alayong and Sanglu villages in Longleng district have ensured the Amur falcons, during their month-long sojourn, could roost there without any threat of poaching. However, after a vigorous campaign by wildlife activists and some local and international NGOs, they pledged to protect the bird and since then their hunting in the area has been minimised.

YAONGYIMCHEN: With a dip in the mercury, the people of Nagaland 's Longleng district have started welcoming their annual winged guests, the Amur falcon . The residents of Yaongyimchen, Alayong and Sanglu villages in Longleng district have ensured the Amur falcons, during their month-long sojourn, could roost there without any threat of poaching. They are likely to stay in the area for about a month before taking off for their wintering grounds in southern Africa.The Amur falcons are the longest travelling raptors in the world and come to these areas in Nagaland in the hundreds of thousands, say ornithologists.Until recently, Naga tribesmen would hunt thousands of these raptors for meat. However, after a vigorous campaign by wildlife activists and some local and international NGOs, they pledged to protect the bird and since then their hunting in the area has been minimised."The first batch of Amur falcons has arrived at their roosting site. We have noticed about three to four lakh birds, and more will arrive in the days to come," said Alex, an intern from Dehradun's Wildlife Institute of India (WII), who is doing his internship in Longleng this year.These amazing raptors travel one of the longest migration routes of all birds, doing up to 22,000 km in a year and they arrive in Nagaland from Siberia en route to their final destination."The Amur falcons take off in the third week of September and start reaching the roosting sites in Nagaland from early November. This year they have started arriving early," said Y Nuklu Phom, chairman and team leader of the Lemsachenlok Society, responsible for protecting the roosting sites in Yaongyimchen, Alayong and Sanglu villages.The villages are part of the Yaongyimchen Biodiversity Conservation Zone.

If You Like This Story, Support NYOOOZ

NYOOOZ SUPPORTER

NYOOOZ FRIEND

Your support to NYOOOZ will help us to continue create and publish news for and from smaller cities, which also need equal voice as much as citizens living in bigger cities have through mainstream media organizations.


Stay updated with all the Latest Kohima headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.

Related Articles