The Star
NEWS
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 8 2012
17
TRAPPED: Hunters break the Amur falcons’ wings and throw the birds into pens made of mosquito netting, where they are kept alive until they are sold.
LAWLESS: Killing these tiny birds of prey is illegal in Nagaland – but that doesn’t stop hunters from catching the birds in fishing nets high in trees as they head to roost in the evenings.
EASY PREY: Thousands of Amur falcons are caught in hunters’ nets daily during the migration period as they head across India en route to southern Africa.
FLIGHT INTO THE KILLING FIELD She has fought hazards around the world. Now she may be facing death SHAUN SMILLIE shaun.smillie@inl.co.za
HE HAS made this transcontinental crossing before, but this time the fear is that she will fall victim to a catastrophe that threatens to destroy her species. To a small group of bird enthusiasts she is known simply as 95778, an Amur falcon that has a small matchboxsized satellite transmitter strapped to her back. For nearly three years this GPS transmitter has given science a glimpse into the 14 500km migratory route this pigeon-sized bird of prey makes between South Africa and Mongolia. 95778 is on a return trip to South Africa, but she has stopped over at a killing field. Her last recorded position has her in the remote northeast Indian state of Nagaland. Late last month a team of Indian conservationists travelled to the Doyang reservoir in Nagaland and what they found shocked them. Tens of thousands of Amur falcons are being caught and
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NO CHANCE: After the birds are caught, their wings are broken so they can’t escape. They are then thrown into mosquito-net pens.
MEAGRE: A bird is sold for the equivalent of R2.40 to R3.75 at the local markets – not much, but a living for people who earn little else.
SLAUGHTER: At the peak of the migration, over about two weeks, almost a quarter of a million birds are killed – about 15 000 a day.
sold for bush meat. The numbers, they believe, are large enough to affect the survival of the species. “What was shocking was not the sight of dead birds, but the scale of hunting,” says Ramki Sreenivasan of Conservation India. The hunters, Sreenivasan
mean that a quarter of a million birds are slaughtered over this two-week period. Once the birds are caught, he says, hunters break the birds’ wings and keep them alive in pens made from mosquito netting. The birds are sold for the equivalent of between R2.40 and R3.75 at markets.
detrimental effect on Amur falcon populations in South Africa. No one knows what the global population of this bird species is, but a count of Amur falcon roosts in South Africa in 2009 gave a figure of 111 000 birds. Back in 2009, German birdwatcher Professor Dr Bernd-
says, set fishing nets high in the trees. The birds are caught as they head to roost in the evenings. He estimates that at the height of the migration about 15 000 birds are killed daily. “The peak of the migration lasts for about 10 to 15 days,” Sreenivasan explains. It could
Glenfiddich celebrates 125th anniversary SAMANTHA HARTSHORNE CHRISTMAS Day will mark 125 years since Glenfiddich single malt Scotch Whisky first ran through the copper pot stills at a family-built distillery in Scotland. The brew-house, meaning Valley of the Deer, was the dream of malt master William Grant and his nine children, who were all instrumental in producing the first glass of clear, gold spirit. Ian Millar, global brand ambassador for Glenfiddich Scotch whisky since 1998 and in the country for the annual Whisky Live festival, says South Africans have responded well to Glenfiddich since it came on to the market 15 years ago. Peter Gordon, fifth generation descendant of founder William Grant is a director of the company and attributes the success of the Glenfiddich brand to the founding father. “The pioneering spirit of my great-great-grandfather is at the heart of everything we do at Glenfiddich. It inspires us to push the boundaries and create new, innovative expressions of the finest single malt Scotch whisky.” Millar agrees, saying the
GOING STRONG: Workers in the Glenfiddich distillery. Glenfiddich is unique in that it is the only single malt Scotch whisky still made in Scotland. A tradition of exceptional malt masters followed the inspiration of Grant and further boosted the brand. David Stewart celebrated 45 years as Glenfiddich malt master when he retired in 2009 – the longest serving master blender to remain with any one distiller in the industry. The liquid gold produced on the other side of the world in 1887 and still brewed in Dufftown, is the perfect accompaniment to the South African Christmas lunch, 125 years to the day
William Grant poured the first dram. According to Millar, whisky is traditionally served as a ‘dram’ which is a double tot and best enjoyed in a tulip style glass that has a deep belly and tapered lip that concentrates the aroma. The temperature at which whisky is drunk is very important, to release the aroma. Millar says he warms his glass by cupping it in his hand before the liquid is poured. Ice on the other hand, inhibits the aroma. Whisky Live is on at the Sandton Convention centre until Friday.
“The birds that arrive here are probably tired,” says Sreenivasan. “They get stuck and hang until the hunter arrives early in the morning to disentangle them.” Dr Craig Symes, an ornithologist at Wits University, believes that such mass killings are likely to have a
Ulrich Meyburg and his wife, Christina, travelled to Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal, and with the help of members of BirdLife Northern Natal caught and attached satellite transmitters to 10 Amur falcons. Now, three years later, only 95778’s transmitter continues to plot her journey.
Rina Pretorius of BirdLife Northern Natal says Meyburg told her on Monday night that the bird had been at the Nagaland site for the past two days. “She told me that the bird is at that exact same spot [where they are killing them] and that she expected her to move off in the next two days.” If 95778 makes it, she could be back in South Africa by next month. “All we can do is hold thumbs,” Pretorius says. The killing of Amurs is illegal in Nagaland, says Sreenivasan. He says India is a signatory to the Convention on Migratory Species which is bound to provide safe passage to any migrating animal. Conservation India has informed authorities of the hunting, and the chief wildlife warden of Nagaland has issued instructions to seize netting and warn offenders that they can be arrested. “This will be the last year that this happens,” Sreenivasan says. “It is fixable, by hook, crook or carriage stick.”