Manipur's Amur Falcon 'Chiuluan 2' reaches Kalahari Desert in Botswana after South Africa sojourn

Imphal, Jan 30: One of the two satellite-tagged Amur falcons (Falco amurensis), 'Chiuluan 2,' named after a village in Manipur's Tamenglong district, is now back in the Kalahari desert in Botswana after spending nearly 20 days in South Africa in the area not far from Johannesburg, Wildlife Institute of India (WII) scientist R Suresh Kumar, who is monitoring the bird's migratory route, said.

The bird had reached its first stopover site in Somalia after flying nonstop and crossing the Arabian Sea in five days and 17 hours in the last part of November last year.

Speaking to this reporter on the status of the satellite-tagged migratory in Africa, Dr. Kumar said that he is expecting the falcon to keep moving in circles from January 24 onwards depending on the availability of food, etc. Potential rainfall further west and in the Kalahari region is maybe what Chiuluan 2 is tracking, the scientist felt.

On November 8 last year, the Manipur Forest Department and local residents released two Amur falcons—Chiuluan 2 and Gwangram—after radio-tagging them with satellite transmitters. The aim was to study the migratory routes of these birds and the environmental patterns from Tamenglong.'Chiuluan 2' is a male Amur falcon, while 'Gwangram' is a female.

Chiuluan and Gwangram are two roosting villages of the Amur falcons in the Tamenglong district. "Unfortunately, Gwangram, the other satellite-tagged female falcon, has not responded since December last year," Kumar added.

This radio-tagging programme for Amur falcons was first implemented in November 2018 in Tamenglong, followed by another radio-tagging programme in 2019 with five birds.

"Two falcons, named 'Tamenglong' and 'Manipur,' were radio-tagged that year, followed by five birds named 'Chiuluan,' 'Puching,' 'Phalong,' 'Irang,' and 'Barak' in 2019, in an effort to raise awareness about wildlife conservation," said officials.

Amur falcons, the world's longest-travelling birds, are protected under the Wildlife Protection Act. They breed in southeast Russia and northeast China during the summer and migrate to their wintering grounds in Africa.

Their yearly journey covers about 20,000 km, passing through Afghanistan and East Asia. Along the way, they stop in North East India and Somalia.The pigeon-sized raptors, locally known as Akhuaipuina, arrive in the Northeast, including Nagaland and Manipur, in October. They leave the region in November after feeding themselves enough to sustain their nonstop flight to Africa, where they spend their winters.

By-

Sobhapati Samom