Kolkata: To Africa and back in 178 days! That was the incredible 12,000km-plus journey an adult Amur falcon, named Apapang, undertook after it was radio-tagged and released from a village in Tamenglong district of Manipur.After his arduous flight, Apapang has now returned to the same district where he was radio-collared last year, stayed for a night and started its return journey to ‘Amurland’ for breeding, wildlife officials and bird enthusiasts said on Saturday.Notably, the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and Manipur govt started an initiative titled ‘The Manipur Amur Falcon Tracking Phase II’ last year, during which officials radio-tagged three Amur falcons and christened them Ahu, Alang (both females) and Apapang.Former Tamenglong district forest officer Hitler Kharibam said the small migratory birds were given local names as part of the govt’s efforts to involve villagers in the conservation process.Of the three Siberian falcons, Apapang returned to Tamei, a subdivision of Tamenglong district, just 35 km away from the village, Chiuluan, also known as Amur Falcon Village, where it was radio-tagged on Tuesday, Nov 11, 2025.Tracing the flight path of the birds, officials said Apapang reached the Tamei area on May 7 and halted for the night on the forested slopes in its northbound migration. It then left for ‘Amurland’ (south-eastern Siberian and northern Chinese region) on the morning of May 8.As of May 8 afternoon, it is at least 320 km away from Tamenglong, crossing into Myanmar and making a brief stop at the Chindwin River before continuing its journey. Later, it arrived at a mountain slope facing the Irrawaddy River to stop for the night.Earlier, Apapang and the two other falcons flew to the African continent, including Zimbabwe and other nearby nations, which are over 6,000 km from Tamenglong. They reached the continent in a record time of about nine to 10 days. At times, they flew nearly 1,000 km in a day. During the crossing of the Arabian Sea, these small birds flew non-stop.With its return, Apapang has completed one-half of the annual migration cycle, officials said. “Now, we will have to wait and see how far north (to Amur land) it will go to breed and then wait for its return to Tamenglong once again later this year,” bird enthusiast Laishram Samungou said.Sadly, the two other radio-tagged falcons, Ahu (an adult female) and Alang (a young female), remained in Somalia. While Alang might still attempt to cross the Arabian Sea with the right tailwind and start its return journey along with other falcons, Ahu has not shown much movement, an official said, quoting WII sources.
