The successful return of the two satellite’s tagged Amur Falcons (Irang and Chiuluan) has put Manipur in the global map of wildlife conservation efforts, said Environment and Climate Change minister Awangbow Newmai.
Addressing a press conference held on Tuesday in Imphal, the minister said that it is a proud moment for the Forest department of the state that the Amur Falcons, tagged with satellite transmitters, have returned after completing its marathon journey to its roosting site in Puching village in Tamenglong district.
Stating that the success story of the satellite tagging of the Amur Falcons has ignited the hope that the other wildlife projects like Hornbill project, Tiger project among others can also be a successful projects, the minister assured that more conservation efforts will be carried out for the migratory birds and other endangered animals in the state.
Seeking support from the public, the minister said that without the cooperation from all the stakeholders the conservation efforts of the department will not be successful.
Further giving credit to the general public and all the stakeholders and media, he said that the number of migratory birds visiting the Loktak lake has increased this year following awareness among the general public.
Asserting that the two satellite tagged Amur Falcons were traced for five days before it got disappeared, he said that the satellite tagged Barak was successfully traced till May 29, 2020 before it disappeared likely in a cyclone on its migratory route.
Manipur has set a successful example in the global conservation map, stating that the minister said that the state has shown the effort to protect and provide safe bases to the migratory bird Amur Falcons.
Awangbow also credited the NGOs including Rainforest Club Tamenglong, local people, district administration and media for their involvement in raising awareness regarding protection and conservation of the Amur Falcons which migrate in number of lakhs during mid October in Tamenglong district.
Amur Falcons are long-distance migratory birds and arrive in Northeast India mainly in Manipur and Nagaland on their south-bound migration during October from their breeding grounds in Northern China, Eastern Mongolia and far East Russia en-route to their wintering grounds in South Africa.
The one-way journey from their breeding to wintering grounds via India is about 20,000 kilometres and the birds do this twice a year.
