Suiciding birds of Jatinga-1
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Akham Bonbirdhwaja Singh
Contd from previous issue
They also have annual visit by Amur Falcon and King Chillies are also grown. They have annual Amur Falcon Festival like we do in a place called Umrangsu (small village of in-laws) and have pitcher plants (Perhaps, Dima Hasao and Tamenglong are the only places where rare Pitcher Plants are found outside Meghalaya). The landscapes are quite similar. So, Tamenglong district also have a good chance of becoming a “Scotland of Manipur”.
Actually, Oinamlong and Nungba are the points having same altitude with Imphal and other places have altitude below that of Imphal. Ngaprum Chingjin is the highest point along NC Road. So altitudes are also similar with that of Dima Hasao. But the difference is, Assam is way ahead of us. The Dima Hasao have a wonderful Circuit House, slightly less than that of Cachar Circuit House, Silchar but much bigger than any of our Guest House. The Dima Hasao Autonomous District Council office is a place to see with the imposing gate and ethnic elements in its campus and compound walls. The district also has even a botanical garden and district museum. Haflong of course is a small place; roads are not crowded at all.
During my morning jogging there, I could cover the ADC office, the Haflong Lake and Circuit House which are among important landmarks of Haflong. The care taker in the lake park wished me warmly in English and I responded with a smile.
We had a small chat and he said that I must be new here and I nodded. I felt good after the chat, what a friendly people ? Very similar to us, they brew local wine which they call ‘Ju’ (Judima=Dimasa Wine) like we call it ‘Yu’ (Judima is now GI Tagged, first in the North East); they call bamboo ‘Wah’ and we call ‘Wa’. Later, I met another elderly person with two dogs in the leash, he came forward and wished me profusely and asked what places I have seen and told a few landmarks I must see here and of course about bird suicide. Friendly, no doubt and proud of their place too, I liked that.
Now let me come to the purpose of my visit, to see the suicide of the birds. The most unique wildlife mystery the world has known is the mass suicide of birds at Jatinga. I have not heard of any other phenomenon more mysterious than the Jatinga phenomenon. What is more mysterious is that the mystery remains unsolved for over a century.
There were some reports of similarphenomenon elsewhere in nearby Mizoram and far away Philippines, but I could not authenticate the same as the literatures are limited. My contact in Mizoram replied in the negative. People often quote another mystery, the lemmings jumping of the cliff in to sea in mass suicide; lemmings do not commit suicide. They are good swimmers and jumping in to water is no unnatural phenomenon. So, the bird mystery is greater mystery than the lemming’s suicide (???). There were other mysteries like black offsprings, white offsprings, hybrid alterations, deep sea animals, healing powers of animal parts etc. There is also case of mass deaths of sea fishes. With the advancements of science, these mysteries have all fallen apart, many were found to be myths rather than mysteries. But the Jatinga Bird Mystery persists, this have been an unsolved mystery for more than a century.
Do the animals have suicidal instinct ? This has been a highly debatable question ? Can the rise in stress level compel animals (including birds) to commit suicide ? In humans, due to some external factors including high stress and anxiety level, a situation is created in mind where thinking becomes truncated and coming back to rationality is blocked, going to oblivion becomes the choice. When animals are in extreme grief or stress, can they stop eating or jump into flames and lose lives ? Are there any similarity in the near end point mental state of animals and humans giving up live ? An argument is power of taking the crucial decision that going to oblivion is better option is not in the animals. In evolution, the survival instinct is very strong instinct of animals, so their cognitive capacities are to find food, avoid predators, find shelters so that they are safe and they reproduce. Sometimes we call some of their actions suicidal but the action is a reaction not conscious decision to give up life to go to oblivion.
It is fight, flight or freeze response for animals to any external stimuli. Anyway, I am not an animal psychologist and there could be more arguments still.
Birds are the most beautiful creatures on earth. They are in all colours and hues and the animal kingdom would have not been so perfect without them. What Jawaharlal Nehru said “… life would become very dull and colourless if we did not have these magnificent animals and birds ….” is more true in case of the feather friends. They are marvellous singers and dancers par excellence in the animal world. In addition, they have a very important niche in any ecosystem and the world cannot exist without them.
The number of avian species in our ecosystem would be more than the number of species of mammals, reptiles, amphibians and fishes put together. So, the bizarre phenomenon of birds suicide is a concerning issue not only for the environmentalists, but also for all of us. More concerning is that this has been happening in our backyard for over a century.
The writer is a retired IFS Officer. He is currently a member of State Board of Wildlife. He can be reached at [email protected]
Contd from previous issue
They also have annual visit by Amur Falcon and King Chillies are also grown. They have annual Amur Falcon Festival like we do in a place called Umrangsu (small village of in-laws) and have pitcher plants (Perhaps, Dima Hasao and Tamenglong are the only places where rare Pitcher Plants are found outside Meghalaya). The landscapes are quite similar. So, Tamenglong district also have a good chance of becoming a “Scotland of Manipur”.
Actually, Oinamlong and Nungba are the points having same altitude with Imphal and other places have altitude below that of Imphal. Ngaprum Chingjin is the highest point along NC Road. So altitudes are also similar with that of Dima Hasao. But the difference is, Assam is way ahead of us. The Dima Hasao have a wonderful Circuit House, slightly less than that of Cachar Circuit House, Silchar but much bigger than any of our Guest House. The Dima Hasao Autonomous District Council office is a place to see with the imposing gate and ethnic elements in its campus and compound walls. The district also has even a botanical garden and district museum. Haflong of course is a small place; roads are not crowded at all.
During my morning jogging there, I could cover the ADC office, the Haflong Lake and Circuit House which are among important landmarks of Haflong. The care taker in the lake park wished me warmly in English and I responded with a smile.
We had a small chat and he said that I must be new here and I nodded. I felt good after the chat, what a friendly people ? Very similar to us, they brew local wine which they call ‘Ju’ (Judima=Dimasa Wine) like we call it ‘Yu’ (Judima is now GI Tagged, first in the North East); they call bamboo ‘Wah’ and we call ‘Wa’. Later, I met another elderly person with two dogs in the leash, he came forward and wished me profusely and asked what places I have seen and told a few landmarks I must see here and of course about bird suicide. Friendly, no doubt and proud of their place too, I liked that.
Now let me come to the purpose of my visit, to see the suicide of the birds. The most unique wildlife mystery the world has known is the mass suicide of birds at Jatinga. I have not heard of any other phenomenon more mysterious than the Jatinga phenomenon. What is more mysterious is that the mystery remains unsolved for over a century.
There were some reports of similarphenomenon elsewhere in nearby Mizoram and far away Philippines, but I could not authenticate the same as the literatures are limited. My contact in Mizoram replied in the negative. People often quote another mystery, the lemmings jumping of the cliff in to sea in mass suicide; lemmings do not commit suicide. They are good swimmers and jumping in to water is no unnatural phenomenon. So, the bird mystery is greater mystery than the lemming’s suicide (???). There were other mysteries like black offsprings, white offsprings, hybrid alterations, deep sea animals, healing powers of animal parts etc. There is also case of mass deaths of sea fishes. With the advancements of science, these mysteries have all fallen apart, many were found to be myths rather than mysteries. But the Jatinga Bird Mystery persists, this have been an unsolved mystery for more than a century.
Do the animals have suicidal instinct ? This has been a highly debatable question ? Can the rise in stress level compel animals (including birds) to commit suicide ? In humans, due to some external factors including high stress and anxiety level, a situation is created in mind where thinking becomes truncated and coming back to rationality is blocked, going to oblivion becomes the choice. When animals are in extreme grief or stress, can they stop eating or jump into flames and lose lives ? Are there any similarity in the near end point mental state of animals and humans giving up live ? An argument is power of taking the crucial decision that going to oblivion is better option is not in the animals. In evolution, the survival instinct is very strong instinct of animals, so their cognitive capacities are to find food, avoid predators, find shelters so that they are safe and they reproduce. Sometimes we call some of their actions suicidal but the action is a reaction not conscious decision to give up life to go to oblivion.
It is fight, flight or freeze response for animals to any external stimuli. Anyway, I am not an animal psychologist and there could be more arguments still.
Birds are the most beautiful creatures on earth. They are in all colours and hues and the animal kingdom would have not been so perfect without them. What Jawaharlal Nehru said “… life would become very dull and colourless if we did not have these magnificent animals and birds ….” is more true in case of the feather friends. They are marvellous singers and dancers par excellence in the animal world. In addition, they have a very important niche in any ecosystem and the world cannot exist without them.
The number of avian species in our ecosystem would be more than the number of species of mammals, reptiles, amphibians and fishes put together. So, the bizarre phenomenon of birds suicide is a concerning issue not only for the environmentalists, but also for all of us. More concerning is that this has been happening in our backyard for over a century.
The writer is a retired IFS Officer. He is currently a member of State Board of Wildlife. He can be reached at [email protected]