By NE NOW NEWS
Guwahati: A male Amur Falcon named Apapang, fitted with a radio tag in Manipur’s Tamenglong district, has reached eastern Myanmar, officials said.
The bird completed an extraordinary migration journey, including a 4,750 km non-stop flight from Somalia to central India in nearly 95 hours.
The falcon is believed to have, on May 5, crossed the Arabian Sea without stopping, travelling directly from Somalia to India.
Suresh Kumar of the Wildlife Institute of India, who has been tracking the bird via satellite signals, confirmed on Sunday, May 10, that Apapang is now present in eastern Myanmar.
At Chiuluan village in Tamenglong district, three Amur Falcons, Apapang, Ahu, and Alang, were fitted with satellite transmitters on November 11, 2025, and began their migration soon after tagging. The birds were named after a local roosting site and nearby rivers Barak and Irang.
Apapang is an adult male, while Ahu and Alang are females.
Earlier, Apapang had also drawn attention by completing a non-stop flight of around 6,100 km to Kenya in November 2025, again crossing the Arabian Sea.
The other two tagged falcons, Ahu and Alang, have not yet begun their long non-stop movement from Somalia, officials said.
The tagging programme for Amur Falcons was first introduced in Tamenglong district by the Forest Division in November 2018 as part of conservation efforts.
The Amur Falcon is listed under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, making it a fully protected species. In the local context, it is known as Akhuaipuina (Taomuanpui).
Its breeding activity takes place in the summer months in regions of southeast Russia and northeast China. When winter approaches, the birds leave these breeding areas and fly down to southern Africa.
After spending the season there, they begin their return migration between April and May, passing through multiple regions such as East Asia and Afghanistan. Over the course of a year, they cover a total distance of nearly 20,000 km.