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Two satellite-tagged Amur falcons (Falco amurensis), named Apapang and Alang, have safely completed their extraordinary annual intercontinental migration and returned to the exact roosting landscape in Manipur's Tamenglong district where researchers fitted them with transmitters a year ago.
The scientific milestone, highlighted across national wildlife conservation dispatches on November 9, 2026 and November 10, 2026 following their tracked arrival in late October 2026, marks the successful completion of a nearly year-long round-trip journey spanning roughly 20000 kilometres across 23 countries in Asia and Africa. Weighing between 100 and 180 grammes, the small migratory raptors were tagged on November 11, 2025, at the Chiuluan roosting site in Tamenglong by a research team led by Dr R Suresh Kumar, a senior scientist at the Department of Endangered Species Management at the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun.
A 23-Country Odyssey Across Land and Ocean
After departing from their summer breeding grounds in northeastern China, Apapang, an adult male, and Alang, a female, completed an 11-day southbound flight to reach Manipur's forested hills. A third falcon tagged alongside them in November 2025, named Ahu, ceased transmitting signals from Somalia earlier in 2026, making the safe return of Apapang and Alang particularly significant for avian researchers tracking the Central Asian and East African flyways.
Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav celebrated the birds' journey across 23 nations, which included a non-stop 6100-kilometre flight over six days and eight hours across peninsular India and the Arabian Sea before wintering in southern Africa. Sharing the telemetry update, Union Minister Bhupender Yadav stated, "Apapang and Alang are true global citizens, reminding us that conservation boundaries do not exist in nature and that protecting migratory species requires shared global stewardship."
Tamil Nadu Additional Chief Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Forests Supriya Sahu also highlighted the endurance of the raptors during their trans-oceanic crossing. "To watch a bird weighing barely 150 grammes fly across the open Arabian Sea in a single unbroken arc across continents is one of the greatest marvels of avian endurance," Supriya Sahu remarked.
Vital Stopover Ecology and Community Stewardship in Manipur
Between mid-October and early November each year, nearly one million Amur falcons arrive in Manipur and neighbouring Nagaland after flying from their breeding territories in Mongolia, eastern Siberia, and northeastern China. In Tamenglong district, the birds feed voraciously on swarming winged termites, building up the essential fat reserves required to fuel their non-stop trans-oceanic crossing toward southern Africa.
Tamenglong Divisional Forest Officer Amit Kaler confirmed that early flocks have settled safely into traditional village roosting sites, including Guangram and Chiuluan, under heightened joint surveillance by forest personnel and local village volunteers. "The safe return of Apapang and Alang to the very forests where they were tagged is a proud moment for the people of Tamenglong, proving that community vigilance has transformed this landscape into a secure sanctuary," Amit Kaler noted.
The telemetry milestone underscores Northeast India's transformation from a region once plagued by mass hunting of roosting falcons—an issue brought to global attention in Nagaland in 2012—into an internationally recognised model of community-led wildlife conservation. Backed by the Manipur Forest Department, village authorities, and grassroots organisations such as the Rainforest Club Tamenglong, local residents now actively patrol roosting groves and enforce strict bans on hunting.
Reflecting on the broader significance of the telemetry findings, environmentalist and Chintan Environmental Research and Action Group founder Bharati Chaturvedi observed, "The return of these tiny falcons to Manipur after crossing oceans and deserts is a miracle of nature that deserves national celebration, showing what becomes possible when local communities and scientists work together."
Editor's Note
The successful return of Apapang and Alang to Tamenglong demonstrates how precision satellite tracking paired with grassroots community stewardship can safeguard one of the planet's longest avian migrations. Sustaining this conservation triumph requires uninterrupted anti-poaching patrols across Tamenglong and Noney districts, dedicated livelihood incentives for forest-fringe villages that protect roosting habitats, and strengthened international flyway cooperation with African range states so these remarkable raptors remain protected across every stage of their 20000-kilometre journey.
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