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A route map of ‘Chiulon’ and ‘Longleng’. (EM Images)[/caption]
Our Correspondent
Imphal, Nov. 28 (EMN): Four Amur falcons that were tagged with satellite transmitter from Manipur and Nagaland, appeared to be racing towards Africa, a Wildlife Institute of India (WII) scientist informed on Thursday.
‘Chiulon’, a male Amur falcon named after a village in Manipur’s Tamenglong district, radio-tagged along with four other falcons on October 31 and November 1, has moved to Tanzania, followed by ‘Longleng’, a female Amur falcon which was radio-tagged in Nagaland in 2016. Longleng has reached Somalia for the fourth time after successfully crossing the Arabian Sea, said WII scientist Dr. Suresh Kumar.
The four other pigeon-sized birds were ‘Puching’, ‘Phalong’ (all names of villages in Manipur), ‘Irang’ and ‘Barak’ (both names of rivers of Manipur).
“Irang has reached Maharashtra coast and is likely flying over the Arabian sea now while ‘Barak’ arrived in Odisha,” he informed.
Interestingly, ‘Longleng’ which is the most experience of all the radio-tagged falcons, has created history in India after it set the record of being satellite tracked for the longest duration.
‘Longleng’ weighing around 175 grams flies at a speed of 45 km per hour, reached her breeding area in northern China precisely in the wee hour of May 25, 2019.
The Tamenglong Forest division in their Facebook post on Thursday said, “We are extremely delighted to report that Chiulon, Barak and Irang the Satellite Transmitter Tagged Amur falcons released from Puching village on 31st October and 1st November 2019 have all moved from Tamenglong District, Manipur.”
“They have reached different destination on Thursady, Nov. 28. Chiulon has reached Tanzania, Irang has reached Maharashtra and Barak has reached Odisha. Further, Amur falcon Longleng that was tagged with satellite transmitter in 2016 from Nagaland has set record of the longest surviving Amur falcon and has reached Somalia,” the post added.
