The Nagaland Village That Once Hunted 14000 Falcons a Day & Now Welcomes Millions Each Winter

On a crisp morning in Nagaland’s Pangti village, songs rise across the hill slopes as people gather to welcome winter guests who have travelled halfway across the world.

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The sky seems alive with wings. For a few precious weeks each year, thousands of Amur falcons arrive during their long migration from Siberia to Africa, transforming this small village into a resting ground for one of the planet’s most astonishing journeys.

Today, Pangti hosts the Amur Falcon Festival. Dancers, drummers, and elders celebrate these migrants with colour and pride. Beneath the festivities sits a story that shaped the village’s relationship with the bird.

The winter that shook a village

In the winter of 2012, the same skies carried the falcons, but their arrival took a tragic turn. Locals had always seen them as an easy source of meat. That year, trapping reached a shocking scale. Conservationists recall scenes of women selling 60 or more birds at a time. 

Hunters stood by the roadside with bunches of trapped falcons, often holding 100 to 200 in each bundle. Between 12,000 to 14,000 birds were killed each day.

A campaign that asked people to choose protection

The crisis demanded action. Conservationists, local leaders, and young volunteers stepped in. The district administration banned hunting, and an intensive campaign began to train and sensitise villagers. 

Experts explained how migration works and why the falcons rely on insects, weather patterns, and safe resting grounds. Many villagers said they had never realised the impact their actions had on wildlife or their surroundings.

Schools played a strong role. Children learned about the falcons and carried those lessons home. Parents listened as their children insisted that shooting or trapping must stop. 

Young villagers began reminding friends to protect the birds, not harm them. “If we continue hunting, we will lose them. We may not even know their names one day,” shared farmer Lijon Ngully.

How Pangti became the falcon capital of the world

The transformation soon became a model for conservation. By the following year, not a single bird was trapped in Pangti. The village that once hunted thousands began welcoming millions, earning Pangti the recognition of being the falcon capital of the world.

Today, travellers arrive to witness this remarkable bond between people and the soaring visitors they now proudly protect. Every winter, the skies above Pangti tell the story of a community that chose renewal over loss.