Manipur’s forest and environment minister Th. Shyamkumar on Saturday said the Amur falcon which was satellite-tagged and named Manipur in Tamenglong district was killed by unidentified persons at Kebuching, bordering Tamenglong and Noney districts.

Cancellation of gun licence (air guns) will be discussed in the cabinet meeting soon and the culprits will be punished, the minister said, adding that stricter rules and intense awareness campaigns are needed at this moment.

On November 4, a team, including Suresh Kumar of the Wildlife Institute of India, divisional forest officer of Tamenglong forest department Arun R.S. and Peter, a raptor biologist from Hungary, had captured five Amur falcons using canopy mist-nets in a community forest area of Chiuluan village along the Barak river in Tamenglong district.

Of the five, the two fittest birds were attached with GPS satellite tags and released the next morning.

The male bird was named Manipur and the female bird was named Tamenglong.

Villagers of Tamenglong were informed about the satellite-tagging of the two Amur falcons at the fourth Amur Falcon Festival in the district.

Manipur forest and environment minister Th. Shyamkumar The Telegraph file picture

On November 8, the Tamenglong district administration issued an order, strictly prohibiting use of air guns along the Irang river near Gwangram, Rangkhung, Puching and Taobam villages.

Shyamkumar told reporters on Saturday that killing of the bird was “very unfortunate and shocking” as the forest department along with a team of experts were on a mission to save migratory birds and monitor their movements.

He said the forest department and the Rainforest Club had organised door-to-door campaign in 20 villages in Tamenglong district and had appealed to all to help save Amur falcons.

Arun said analysis of the tracking data after immediate release of Manipur, the male Amur falcon, showed it had moved to a site 3km southeast of Punglam village along the Irang river where it roosted.

Tamenglong, the female Amur falcon, moved to the Barak river roost site and remained in the area for the next two days. On November 7, it arrived at the Irang river site, where Manipur was roosting, to roost, he added.

Arun said more teams of the forest department had rushed to the area to save Tamenglong.

He said the forest department, district administration, police, other departments and local leaders were collaborating to monitor and protect Amur falcons at all roost sites.

Suresh Kumar said each satellite equipment cost Rs 1.5 lakh and additional Rs 1 lakh had to be spent to retrieve data of the bird’s journey.

He said a series of awareness campaigns are needed so that people do not hunt the birds.