Each year thousands of migratory
Amur falcons (
Falco amurensis)
are hunted by locals in the Indian State of Nagaland during their
passage through that region. On November 1, 2012, Shashank Dalvi and
Ramki Sreenivasan first documented the massacre at Indian online
campaign site ‘
Conservation India‘.
Every October, a large numbers of Amur falcons arrive in northeast
India and Bangladesh from Siberia en route to their final destination —
Somalia, Kenya and South Africa. Amur falcons travel up to 22,000 km in a
year, in one of the longest migration routes of all birds.
Amur Falcon (Falco Amurensis). Image by Alastair Rae, from Wikipedia. CC BY-SA.
Last month a group of activists (Ramki Sreenivasan from Conservation
India, Shashank Dalvi, Bano Haralu, Rokohebi Kuotsu) travelled to
Nagaland to check out information that thousands of falcons were being
hunted annually on the banks of the Doyang reservoir during their
passage through that region. They accompanied a hunting group and
documented the massacre:
The Amurs spend the day on the transmission wires (almost
entirely inaccessible to hunters) and descend to forested patches along
the banks of the reservoir to roost (see map).
The hunters ruthlessly exploit this particular behavior and set-up huge
fishing nets (30-40m long, 10-12m tall) all over the roosting sites.
Birds get caught in the nets in large numbers. These birds get
tangled in the nets while they come to roost during late evenings or
when they leave the roost early in the morning. The nets were permanent
and the hunters come every morning to remove the trapped birds. The nets
were observed over the entire roosting area giving virtually no safe
area for the birds. Branches and paths were cleared to set up the nets.
Here is a video of the terrible proceedings (warning: graphic images):
The Amur Falcon Massacre, Doyang, Nagaland from Conservation India on Vimeo.
Now the shocking figures:
Each hunting group had set-up at least 10 nets. On an
average, 18 birds (18.30, n=23) were caught per net; hence each group
catches about 180 birds per day. This was confirmed with interviews with
hunters. We were also informed that about 60-70 hunting groups operate
every day. This means during the peak migration about 12,000 to 14,000
birds are caught everyday.
Each bird is sold door-to-door in nearby villages as a fresh food for a price of about Rs. 25 ($0.5).
Reports say
local villagers can earn a few thousand rupees by selling the smoked
Amur falcons. It may be noted that Amur killing is illegal and banned by
the local authorities since 2010.
This story went viral and news quickly spread around the world shocking many people. There were a number of
petitions online. Soon other popular sites like National Geographic
highlighted the issue and called for a global solution. National Geographic commented:
The local people filmed by Conservation India catching
Amur falcons, breaking their wings, sorting them, smoking them, and
trading in them, cannot possibly enjoy this annual activity and do this
purely for money and trade goods.
Amur Falcons being extracted from the net by hunters. Screenshot from the video by Conservation India.
Birdlife International wrote:
The recent trapping and slaughter appears to have been
taking place on an ‘industrial scale’ and unless stopped will clearly
have a devastating affect on the birds’ global population at these
unsustainable levels.
The site also confirms that with the help of their advocacy the following happened:
The Honourable Minister (for environment and forests),
Miss Jayanthi Natarajan personally intervened and The Indian Forest
Department and District Administration also acted fast to destroy nets
and release several still-captive falcons. The sale of falcons has now
been stopped and at least one person has already been jailed.
However, hunters in Nagaland has defied the ban for many years and it
may happen again in future without changing behaviors of the hunters.
The Chief Wildlife Warden, Nagaland, Dimapur
stated in a press note:
Seizing and releasing of the birds from the possession of
the offenders did not discourage them but rather, they resented and
rebelled against the action taken and continued their offence.
The press note also talks about education and awareness campaign for
the local villagers and stakeholders as a future course of action.
According to
latest news
the State department of forest, ecology, environment and wildlife has
directed district forest officers (DFOs) of Mokokchung, Zunheboto and
Wokha districts to immediately ban the act of capturing and killing of
Amur Falcon.
Bogdan Draganescu comments at the Conservation India post:
Just because these birds are numerous and are not on the
verge of extinction, does not mean they are food for humans. animals
should be respected not only as individuals but also as groups and
societies. just as a flock of birds is. a living entity and a result of
evolution of life. this is what we have to respect and conserve.
Written by Rezwan 
