‘Longleng’creates history

Our Correspondent Imphal, Nov. 26 (EMN): A female Amur falcon that was radio-tagged in Nagaland has created history after setting the record of being satellite-tracked for the longest duration, a Wildlife Institute of India (WII) official said on Tuesday. WII scientist R Suresh Kumar, who is currently monitoring the route of the migratory bird, said that the Amur falcon named 'Longleng' has been tracked for 1117 days or a little more than three years, surpassing the previous record. “Longleng is still doing well. She is now making non-stop flight from this year’s roost site in Umrangso in Assam,” he said. ‘Longleng’, the female falcon named after one of Nagaland’s district, returned to the Indian sub-continent on the first week of May after completing her winter sojourn covering thousands of kilometres in African countries, flying at a speed of 45 km per hour. She reached her breeding area in northern China in the wee hours of May 25, 2019. The bird was radio-tagged on October 2016 as part of projects to study the flight route of these long-distance migratory birds and environmental patterns along the route, since India is a signatory to an international agreement to conserve migratory birds of prey. The smart small raptor weighing around 175 grams, has already covered two days and will be entering the Arabian sea soon (depending upon weather conditions for her onward journey to Africa), the scientist said. On the benefit of the ongoing study, the scientist said, “Now in case of Amur falcon, we’re able to better understand their timing of long distance flight, either departure or arrival, overlaying their tracks with environment data such as wind, temperature, rainfall etc., besides shifting of roost sites.” Another major significance with regard to this project is that the bird ‘Longleng’ is being spoken about in Longleng district in Nagaland. It is now in the mind of so many people around the world that it helps spread conservation awareness, he said. In another development, ‘Chiulon’, a male Amur falcon named after a village in Manipur’s Tamenglong district, that was radio-tagged along with four other falcons on October 31 and November 1 this year, has moved to Tsavo East National Park in Kenya (which is one of the oldest and largest parks in Kenya) on November 25, Kumar added. The radio-tagged falcons were named ‘Chiulon’, ‘Puching’, ‘Phalong’ (all names of villages in Manipur), ‘Irang’ and ‘Barak’ (both names of rivers in Manipur). Puching and Phalong are yet to transmit data while Barak is said to be still in Tamenglong district and 'Irang' is now close to the Bangladesh border in southwestern Mizoram. The radio-tagging programme started in Manipur last year.