- Jatinga
Jatinga , a village on a ridge, is located in the
North Cachar Hills district,Assam State inIndia . It is 330km south ofGuwahati . It is most famous for the phenomenon of birds “committing suicide”. This small place of beauty is mainly inhabited by about 2,500Jaintia tribal people.Bird Mystery of Jatinga
At the end of
monsoon months, mysterious behavior of birds takes place. During moonless and foggy dark nights between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m., flying birds come crashing to the ground with no prior warning whatsoever. [cite web
url=http://nchills.gov.in/NCHILLS-JATINGA.htm
title=Jatinga Bird Mystery
accessmonthday=July 9
accessyear=2007
publisher=District Government of Region of North Cachar Hills] The local tribals first took this natural phenomenon to be spirits flying from the sky to terrorize them. This phenomenon is not confined to a single species, with Tiger Bittern, Black Bittern, Little Egret, Pond Heron, Indian Pitta and Kingfishers all being affected.The cause of it is likely to be disorientation at high altitudes and high speed winds due to the widespread fog characteristic at the time.The zoological survey of India sent famous naturalist Dr Sudhir Sengupta to unravel this mystery. Dr Sengupta is of the opinion that weather conditions make changes in the magnetic qualities of the underground water in this area. These changes disturb the physiological rhythm of the local birds and they start behaving abnormally towards the sources of light.
Mystery Exposed?
According to
The Statesman , the birds are attracted to the villagers torches and then killed upon landing [The Statesman , [http://www.thestatesman.org/page.arcview.php?id=33455 Short Takes] , Mar 15,2003] . These birds are likely disoriented by the presence of nearby lights, and villagers in the area take advantage of these birds to kill them for food.Conservation groups and wildlife officials in
India have taken steps to prevent this wanton killing of the birds, creating awareness in the illiterate villagers. Since then, the amount of birds killed have decreased by about 40 percent.However, there is still research going on to unravel the real cause behind this un-natural phenomenon. [cite web
url=http://www.en.articlesgratuits.com/jatinga-phenomenondo-birds-really-commit-suicide-id984.php
title=Jatinga Phenomenon:Do birds really commit suicide
accessmonthday=July 9
accessyear=2007
publisher=ArticlesGratuits.com]ee also
*
Kaziranga National Park
*North Cachar Hills
*Tourism in Assam References
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