During winters, Manipur witnesses a spectacular gathering of migratory birds in thousands at the Lok take Lake- the largest fresh water lake in the Northeast. Some of these birds, mainly wild ducks comes to Loktak from Central Asia, Tibet, Siberia and Yunnan province- flying 3,2000-4,800 kilometres over the Himalayan ranges.
These migratory birds come to the state every October till early March with December and January as the peak season.
However, wildlife enthusiasts are concerned over the declining number of winged guests to the state due to increasing human activities in and around the Lake, which is also declared as Ramsar site.
Activists and government official alike have expressed their fear that the count of migratory birds could witness an all time low this year when compared to recent years, which is not a good sign ecologically.
Chinese made Light Emitting Diode (LED) lights is the latest culprit contributing to the decline of the annual visitors besides the existing disturbances mainly the Ithai Barage.
The numbers of these birds have been reduced drastically due to the disturbance of its habitat after the commissioning of Ithai Barrage. The natural rhythm and cycles of water level have been totally shattered, said Ornithologist RK. Birjit.
He said that the problem which has been further and seriously complicated by using of LED (Light Emitting Diode) lights for fishing in the lake has dwindled the population of water birds including those of migratory species from 47,088 with 68 species in 2016 to hardly 5,000 with 17 species in January, 2017. “It seems that now they have diverted their migratory routes into a marginal habitat where it may succumb to predation, starvation or death,” he added.
This story is from the January 2018 edition of Northeast Today.
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This story is from the January 2018 edition of Northeast Today.
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