Migratory birds census starts in Loktak Lake

IMPHAL, Feb 2: The environmentalists who took part in the wildlife wing of state forest department sponsored day long Loktak water bird census today said that the migratory birds population has been decline comparing to last year cencus.
Though most of the migratory birds species were spotted during the census process across 25 sites across the Loktak and its associate lakes,the number has been decreased unlike the previous census.
We`ve spotted about 57 birds against last year’s record of around 80 in Tangjeng area.Tangjeng area covers around 1 sq km wetland in Manipur’s Thoubal district bordering Loktak. However the number of the birds will definitely increased once the villagers actively involved in conservation activity,the forest officials felt.
Even the Bombay Natural Historical Society(BNHS) representative Dr S Balachandran was disappointed to see the decline of the migratory birds population.
BNHS official had been camping in Manipur along with his colleague and scientist Dr Sathyasilvan as part of a nation-wide study on the physic-biological parameters of the migratory birds besides monitoring the routes of migratory birds in the region.
A media interaction on the side line of the day long bird census was also held here at Keibul Lamjao National park,around 55 km south of Imphal today wherein Assistant Director of BNHS said that most of the migratory birds from arctic region including Siberia,China and Mongolia visits Manipur’s wetlands during winter and flies back to their breeding ground during onset of summer.
The declining of migratory birds population in Manipur evoked apprehension among the state’s environmentalists that whether of such birds stop visiting the lake or not.
According to state`s environmentalist and zoology lecturer in Kumbi college Kuman Jugeshwor Singh,britishers have reportedly hunted more than 56,000 migratory birds belonging to 30 different species during 1910-1930. “Being a resident of Loktak lake’s periphery,I personally couldn’t spot couple of the migratory birds these days”,Jugeshwor said.