Amur Falcon reprieve in India

Last year’s news of the massacre of Amur Falcons in India shocked the world. Tens of thousands of migrating Amur Falcons were being illegally trapped on the roost at a reservoir at Doyang and then being taken to local markets alive, or killed and smoked for sale as food. BirdLife’s Indian Partner BNHS moved immediately to mobilise a response – trapping was stopped, nets destroyed and arrests made, although not before terrible damage had been done.

Thousands of Amur Falcons gather safely over their roost at Doyang Reservoir (Ramki Sreenivasan / BirdLife International).

This year, the generous response to BirdLife's international appeal has enabled BNHS, with the support of the BirdLife Partnership, to organise a comprehensive programme to keep the falcons safe around the Doyang Reservoir where they roost during their stopover. As a result, not a single Amur Falcon was trapped during the 2013 autumn migration. Attitudes have changed so much in the space of a single year that the birds are now treated, in the words of Nagaland’s Chief Minister, as “esteemed guests”.

Robust conservation was put in place, with the funds raised and actions taken to ensure the prevention of illegal hunting of Amur Falcons this year being completely successful. An innovative long-term community outreach campaign has also been initiated that has been received very well locally.

This year, the hundreds of thousands of Amur Falcons that visited Doyang Reservoir were able to do so in peace. They have now passed safely through Northern India and continued their migration on to Southern Africa.

A spokesperson for the BirdLife International Partnership thanked all involved and said: “From an estimated 100,000 falcons killed last year, none have been trapped in nets this year. The transformation is extraordinary and the change has come very quickly. But we also have to guard against this rapid change getting reversed. We needed to also set up solutions which are sustainable and of practical use to the community."

The spectacular site at Doyang Reservoir is now recognised as a stopover for up to a million Amur Falcons each year and will soon be declared an Important Bird Area. Long-term community action plans have also been established in Nagaland through the church, schools and other local groups. An innovative PR campaign “Friends of the Amur Falcon” was developed to galvanise community action throughout the region, supported by a comprehensive set of eye-catching promotional and educational materials.