With the hunters of migratory Amur Falcon birds turning into protectors, Nagaland has become the "Falcon capital" of the world. "Against the general perception of Naga people being compulsive hunters, the success of Amur Falcon conservation has put Nagaland on the global map; and the sheer number of the Amur Falcon population here has made it the 'Falcon Capital' of the world," Nagaland's divisional forest officer (Doyang) Zuthunglo Patton said in a statement. While migrating to African sub-continent every winter to escape the extreme cold of Siberia, thousands of Amur Falcon birds roost in Nagaland for over a month. Till two years ago, the raptors were slaughtered in large numbers by locals and eaten as food.The forest official said focused and relentless awareness in the last one year
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After the mayhem reported last year, Amur Falcons have been safe in India so far this year, thanks to the determined efforts by the Government of Nagaland and the conservation fraternity. In 2012, the killing of around 120,000 Amur Falcons over a one week period in the State of Nagaland raised alarm across India. The bird stops over in Nagaland for a brief refueling halt during its long migration flight. However, the catastrophe may not be repeating itself this year largely due to the efforts of the Forest Department, NGOs and local communities. The Amur Falcon Falco amurensis is a small raptor in the falcon family that is an exceptional long distance flyer. It breeds in north-east Asia (China, North Korea and Russia) and in winter migrates to south-east Africa, undertaking one of the l
Read MoreOnce believed nearly extinct in China, the Siberian tiger, the largest member of the cat family, is making a comeback, the result of a decade-long effort to restore its natural habitat by banning logging, hunting and trapping. Chinese have been amazed not only by the apparent growth of the tiger population but also by how far the felines have spread. It made headlines around China this year when tigers were seen near Jiamusi, a city 140 miles from the Russian border. In China, the number of Siberian tigers living in the wild (far smaller than those in captivity) has been listed in government statistics at between 18 and 22 for some years. Nobody knows the exact number, because the Chinese don't have tracking collars on the tigers, but there could be as many as 40 now and that the popul...
Read MoreThe World Wildlife Fund said recently that at least 19 Siberian (Amur) tigers were killed by poachers in Russia since 2012. Body parts and skeletons of 19 dead tigers were discovered during seven criminal investigations by Russian authorities.There are only several hundred Amur tigers remaining in the wild, and most live in Russia’s Far East. Habitat destruction from logging and some development has reduced their historic range. Additionally, human activities such as poaching have contributed to their status as critically endangered. Poaching is driven by demand for tiger bones and other body parts for use in Chinese ‘medicine’ which is sometimes nothing more than superstition. In other words, consuming tiger parts has never been scientifically proven to have any medical benefits whatsoev
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