Wildlife Conservation Efforts

Species in news: Amur Falcon

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Amur Falcon

Mains level: NA

falcon

The Amur falcons have begun to arrive in Manipur after travelling over 20,000 km.

Amur Falcon

  • The Amur falcon (Falco amurensis) is a small raptor of the falcon family.
  • It breeds in south-eastern Siberia and Northern China before migrating in large flocks across India and over the Arabian Sea to winter in Southern and East Africa.

How it migrates?

  • Locally known as Akhuipuina, the bird arrives mainly in Manipur and Nagaland on its southbound migration from breeding grounds in North China, Eastern Mongolia and far-east Russia.
  • They travel to Manipur en-route to its wintering grounds in South Africa.
  • The one-way journey via India is about 20,000 km long and the birds do this twice a year.
  • They spend three-four weeks in many parts of Manipur to build fat reserves by preying on termites that emerge around this time.

Conservation status

  • It is protected under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 and included under its Schedule IV.
  • It is listed in the IUCN Red list as Least Concern.
  • Hunting of the birds or possessing its meat is punishable with imprisonment up to three years or a fine up to Rs 5,000.
  • In 2018, the forest department started a conservation programme by radio-tagging the birds to study their migratory route.

Click and get your FREE copy of Current Affairs micro notes

Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024

Attend Now

Subscribe
Notify of
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

JOIN THE COMMUNITY

Join us across Social Media platforms.

💥Mentorship New Batch Launch
💥Mentorship New Batch Launch