Title
Saving a marathon migrant.
Author(s)
Dalvi, Shashank; Haralu, Bano; Sreenivasan, Ramki
Published
2014
Abstract
The Amur Falcon Conservation Project lead by Nagaland Wildlife and Biodiversity Conservation Trust in 2013 was a rare success story of conservation in northeast India. Although we recorded a shocking harvest of approximately 140,000 birds in 2012, not a single bird was killed during the passage migration of 2013 in Doyang Reservoir, Nagaland. This was achieved through high>level government support, patrolling & enforcement, community engagement and a comprehensive conservation education program. Our study had two objectives: To identify (i) the extent of hunting pressure on migratory Amur Falcons in the rest of northeast India and (ii) the Amur Falcon migration pattern in the region. During the fall of 2013, we conducted 81 social surveys and field observations at thirteen different sites in six states of northeast India. We also walked 395 belt transects of 1000m by 100m dimensions to estimate densities of Amur Falcons at seven sites in four states of northeast India. Targeted hunting of Amur Falcons was found only in areas in which the birds stopover in large numbers. Methods of capture varied in each location, from using catapults and sticks to catch disoriented birds or even grabbing Amur Falcons simply by hand. The method of hunting directly impacts the scale of extraction at each place. We newly discovered 3 hunting sites in Assam: Ledo, Jatinga, Umrangso. Only Umrangso is of major concern with up to 10000 birds being extracted everyday. Migration within India starts in Nagaland and progresses westward. An average density of 238.2 Amur Falcons/hectare was observed during peak migration in Doyang (15 October to 5 November). Four other large gatherings of Amur Falcons have been noted in and around sino-Himalayas suggesting that these birds prefer to migrate over these low elevation hills instead of the higher Himalayas
Keywords
Conservation; Hunting; Amur Falcon
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PUB26993