Pictures: Falcon Massacre Uncovered in India

On a High Wire

Photograph courtesy Conservation India

During the course of their annual migration, Amur falcons fly an enormous ellipse from Siberia to South Africa and back again. Crossing the Indian Ocean (map) on their way to Africa, the falcons cover over 13,670 miles (22,000 kilometers) a year—farther than any other known raptor.

Amur falcons pause in northeastern India to rest and refuel on the region's insect population. They spend their days roosting on electric wires (pictured), then settle into the forests below at night. Then, in the morning, they take to the air and that is when they're caught.

Unaware of the mass killings, Ramki Sreenivasan from Conservation India—accompanied by a small team of biologists and media crew—had arrived in Nagaland in October to witness the extraordinary migration firsthand.

Their timing was perfect: "The skies were darkened with Amurs migrating when we landed that morning on the twenty-first," he recalled.

"Then we started seeing the dead birds."

Published November 27, 2012

Little Effort

Photograph courtesy Conservation India

Though Sreenivasan and his team knew that some Amur hunting was taking place in Nagaland, they had no clue that it was happening in such a massive way. "The difference is the scale. What contributes to that scale is the manner in which they're hunted—which is using nets," he said.

Nets are unusual in bird hunting. Scientists might use them to capture live birds for tracking, but for traditional hunters, nets are more of a fisher's tool. Nagaland is largely a mountainous region, but a dam built in 2000 on a local river called the Doyang created a new water reservoir in the region.

Where there are reservoirs, there are eventually fishers—and at some point, Sreenivasan believes, one such fisher may have simply strung his net up at the right time, in the right place, and wound up with a dozen fresh Amurs at his disposal.

Now, an estimated 60 to 70 hunting groups gather in the Nagaland forests every fall. Each group, according to Conservation India, uses at least ten nets, stretched vertically near where the falcons roost (pictured).

Sreenivasan estimates that a single net catches roughly 18 birds. "There is no effort whatsoever in getting a few thousand birds a day," he added.

(Related videos: "Birds of Prey.")

Published November 27, 2012

Broken and Waiting

Photograph courtesy Conservation India

In the morning, hunters come to collect their day's trappings. As they gather the live birds, they stash them briefly in nearby mosquito nets until the process is completed (pictured). With their wings restricted or broken—Sreenivasan isn't certain which—the falcons are tied to poles and carried into town.

Stressed and exhausted, many birds die during this three-to-six mile (five-to-ten kilometer) journey—in fact, as he and his team documented this year's hunting, Sreenivasan never once saw a bird killed deliberately.

"It's so heartless," said Sreenivasan. "I'm like almost begging [the hunters]—kill the damn thing, I don't want to see them semi-dead."

Published November 27, 2012

On Their Way to Market

Photograph courtesy Conservation India

Once the falcons are dead, they're either sold immediately at local markets or door-to-door (pictured)—usually for just $1.90 for four to five birds—or they're smoked to preserve the meat.

Not all of the falcons are bought and eaten in the local villages though—it would be impossible for the population to absorb the estimated 12,000 to 14,000 birds that pass through every day. But where the rest go, said Sreenivasan, "that is a mystery."

"[They're] going somewhere," he said. "It's not like unsold heaps of Amurs are lying in the market—we didn't see that even once." The conservationists did hear a few reports of dead Amurs showing up as far as the plains of India (map).

At one point, one villager mentioned that a pick-up truck would arrive to take away a few thousand of the birds—but neither the team nor the police they told could find the truck.

"So it's a question mark. I have no idea. I hope we can crack that, but we don't have any answers at this stage," Sreenivasan said.

Published November 27, 2012

An Amur Hunting Camp

Photograph courtesy Conservation India

Simple hunting camps (pictured) typically spring up near the nets so that hunters can easily gather the day's catch before bringing the falcons into town.

Amurs are not technically an endangered species. But even though the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists them as a species of "least concern," the same status as a common sparrow, the falcons are still protected by law in India because the country is a signatory on the Convention on Migratory Species, said Sreenivasan.

"That says that not only will we protect migratory birds that come to our country, but we will also provide safe passage, and we will arrange long-term conservation plans for these birds.

"These hunts are in violation of those laws," he added.

(Related: "Endangered Species List Expands to 16,000.")

Published November 27, 2012

Left to Smoke

Photograph courtesy Conservation India

Aside from their legal protections, the annual loss of several hundred thousand falcons through consumption (pictured, Amur falcons being smoked over an open fire) and sales could eventually slide the birds into a population crisis, Sreenivasan worries.

"Even if a species is of least concern, that doesn't mean you go about hunting crows and killing sparrows," he said. (Learn about crows and house sparrows.)

The passenger pigeon was possibly one of the most abundant in the world until people eventually hunted them to extinction. Conservation India isn't certain when this practice of mass hunting Amur falcons started, but if it continues unabated, Sreenivasan fears the Amurs could go the same way.

(Learn about bird extinctions.)

Published November 27, 2012

Selling Falcons Door-to-Door

Photograph courtesy Conservation India

A young boy can sell bundles of fresh Amur falcons (pictured) for less than five dollars. Still, when multiplied by the thousands of falcons hunters can catch in a day, the practice can be a considerable financial boon to these groups.

Since discovering the extent of Amur hunting in Nagaland this fall, Conservation India has taken the issue to the local Indian authorities.

"They have taken it very well. They've not been defensive," Sreenivasan said.

"You're not dealing with national property, you're dealing with international property, which helped us put pressure on [them]." (Related: "Asia's Wildlife Trade.")

According to Conservation India, the same day the group filed their report with the government, a fresh order banning Amur hunting was issued. Local officials also began meeting with village leaders, seizing traps, and confiscating birds. The national government has also requested an end to the hunting.

Much remains to be done, but because the hunt is so regional, Sreenivasan hopes it can eventually be contained and stamped out. Authorities there, he said, are planning a more thorough investigation next year, with officials observing, patrolling, and enforcing the law.

"This is part of India where there is some amount of acceptance on traditional bush hunting," he added. "But at some point, you draw the line."

(Related: "Bush-Meat Ban Would Devastate Africa's Animals, Poor?")

Published November 27, 2012

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Photograph by Jacky Gerritsen, My Shot

Published November 27, 2012