Question

Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow: Pangti in the Wokha district of Nagaland has seen both a miracle and a massacre in a span of a year. Last year this scenic village on the edge of the massive Doyang dam reservoir was a site of mass carnage. An estimated 120,000 –140,000 Amur Falcons were killed here by the locals for food, as the migratory bird made its customary stop in the district while flying back to Africa from its breeding grounds in Siberia. The birds returned this year over a million of them descending on this man-made water body, in October –November, but this time not a single Falcon was trapped and killed, according to conservationists. This miracle has been achieved through the joint effort of the NGOs and the government. According to one of the agencies that worked closely with the government, this turnaround was without precedent. The Amur Falcon is an insect eating raptor with an epic migratory route. It breeds in South East Siberia and North China in the summer, before flying back to south and east Africa, ahead to winter. On its way back, the Amur Falcon halts at the Doyang reservoir.Conservationists say that the October –November halt of the birds at Doyang is the biggest congregation of Amur Falcons in the world. Though the reservoir has been in existence only since 2001, these birds have been traditionally coming to this area. As per the elders of the village, these birds have been coming to this area, even prior to the construction of the dam. The sky would turn black when huge flocks of the Amur Falcons arrived, the villagers informed Bano Haralu, a member of one of the NGO teams that worked there. Her team was one that publicised the mass killing of Amur Falcons.Around 12,000-14,000 birds were hunted daily to be consumed by the locals and sold as meat. The birds’ wings were broken and were kept alive in mosquito nets or cane baskets before being strung on rods and carried to markets. Many of the birds had their feathers plucked and the flesh smoked for longer life. Each falcon fetched the hunter Rs. 16 –Rs. 25 andeach hunter made Rs. 20,000 –Rs. 40,000 last season. Most of these hunters were drawn from among the local fisherman community, who had turned to hunting down the birds after diminishing returns from fishing.
The massacre shocked conservation circles. The government and NGO’s together with help from the MNHS {Mumbai Natural History Society} one of the agencies that worked with the locals to stop killing, and leading bird conservation group of the country, set down to work. They set up eco-clubs among local children where awareness was raised about Amur Falcon and its amazing migratory habits. Haralu said the elders got sensitised through their kids. The church came forward in spreading the word. The government stepped up vigilance and the Chief Minister himself visited the village and appealed to the villagers not to hunt the birds. It was the first time where the Chief Minister of the state has asked the people not to hunt among the community where hunting was a way of life. While the menace has been stemmed for the present, activists say that the campaign needs to be sustained. Livelihood issues need to be addressed if the people have to be restrained form hunting. Whatever be the outcome in the long run, for the present the experiment has been hailed as the biggest success story in conservation and is recorded to be a miracle in Nagaland.
Q1.(a) On the basis of your above reading, answer the following questions.
(i) At what period of their migration were the Amur Falcons massacred?
(ii) Describe twocharacteristics of the Amur Falcon.
(iii) How were the birds treated by the local fishermen?
(iv) How was the success of this project achieved?
(v) Where is the Doyang Dam located? What was practised there and when?
(vi) Suggest a suitable title for the given passage.
1.(b) Find words from the passage which mean the same as:
(i) Usual (ii) Gathering (iii) Birds of prey (iv) Requested

Answer 1

WHAT IS THIS YAAR ARE U MADE SO BIG QUESTION ANY WOULD DIE SEEING THIS SERIOUSLY