Hunters in Nagaland Pitch in to Save Amur Falcons by Turning Conservators

The 8,000 residents of a remote tribal village in northeastern India are busy hosting millions of migratory Amur falcons from Siberia who roost by a massive reservoir before taking off for their final destinations — Somalia, Kenya and South Africa — traversing up to 22,000 kilometers (13,670 miles). (Image: AP)

Surrounded by hills, the reservoir and a hydroelectric dam, Pangti village inhabited by Lotha Naga tribespeople became notorious in 2012 for killing up to 15,000 migratory Amur falcons per day. (Image: AP)

The villagers were either consuming or selling the birds. (Image: AP)

Residents regard this as one of the biggest conservation success stories in South Asia — an entire village transforming from predators to protectors. (Image: AP)

As the Amur falcons come, hordes of tourists flock to Pangti and to the Doyang reservoir to savor the sight of the amazing birds. (Image: AP)

Wildlife agencies have satellite-tagged a few Amur falcons to keep track of them. (Image: AP)

To celebrate the conservation story, the Nagaland government held an Amur Falcon Conservation Week and Festivals earlier this month in Wokha district, 400 kilometers (250 miles) east of Gauhati, the largest city in northeastern India. (Image: AP)

Renkey Humtsoi another hunter turned conservationist, lives in a hut near the reservoir. (Image: AP)

When the birds began migrating to the area around 2000, villagers sold four for 100 rupees, or about $1.39. Later they charged the same for half as many birds. (Image: AP)

Renkey Humtsoi hunter-turned-conservationist, rests in his hut by a farm near Pangti village in Wokha district, in Nagaland. (Image: AP)

A Lotha Naga tribal woman prepares food inside her traditional hut in Pangti village in Nagaland. (Image: AP)

Amur Falcons (Falco amurensis) fly over the Doyang reservoir at Pangti village in Wokha district, in the northeastern Indian state of Nagaland. (Image: AP)

A Lotha Naga tribal woman carries vegetables in a traditional bamboo basket in Pangti village, in Nagaland. (Image: AP)

After the 2012 discovery of the mass slaying of the Amur falcons, it was determined that more than 70 groups of people had trapped and slaughtered the birds using fishing nets tied to trees to trap them. (Image: AP)

Renkey Humtsoi hunter-turned-conservationist, rows a boat as he keeps a vigil over roosting Amur Falcons at Doyang reservoir near Pangti village, in Nagaland. (Image: AP)

A Lotha Naga tribal woman carries vegetables in a traditional bamboo basket in Pangti village, in Nagaland. (Image: AP)

Tourists gather to watch Amur Falcons near the Doyang reservoir, in Nagaland.
(Image: AP)