The Valley of Death mystery…..JATINGA!

The Valley of Death mystery..JATINGA!

The Valley of Death mystery..JATINGA!

Jatinga, in Assam is a mysterious place where lots of migratory birds die every year. Jatinga is located in a spur in the Haflong ridge, the head quarter of the North Cachar hills district of Assam now renamed as "DIMA HASAO" a place of mesmerizing natural beauty situated in the North-Eastern region of India. Jatinga is like a junction to the roads leading to Lumding and Silchar. Jatinga is not only a place of natural beauty but the queer phenomenon of birds committing suicide in this place makes it a place of interest of all bird-lovers. Here the mist & fog lie like a veil around the beautiful face of the damsel from September to November. During these late monsoon months, mysterious behaviour of birds takes place. However, some other conditions are also necessary for the phenomenon to occur. The air must be foggy, cloudy or misty. If there is slight rain, it would be even better. The wind must be from south to north. It should be moonless dark nights.

At the end of monsoon months, this mysterious behavior of birds takes place. During moonless and foggy dark nights between 6 p.m. and 10:00 p.m., flying birds come crashing to the ground with no prior warning whatsoever.The local tribes first took this natural phenomenon to be spirits flying from the sky to terrorize them. 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. During these foggy moonless nights when the wind blows from the south to north, the birds in this place remain dazed and inactive. The birds disheveled and dazed do not try to fly as if they are half dead. May be all these birds behave peculiarly because of the shock they get due to the peculiar weather conditions of this period in Jatinga. This phenomenon is not confined to a single species but occurred among the hundreds of species of birds which are found and die here are some of the rare species like Pond Heron, Kingfishers, Tiger Bittern, Black Bittern, Little Egret etc. Various studies also reveal that there is also a correlation between the Jatinga- phenomenon and the breeding period of the birds. The unusual behaviour of the birds seems to occur due to the peculiar weather conditions at Jatinga. There also appears to be a correlation between the breeding period of the birds and the Jatinga phenomenon. Studies also reveal that the flight of water birds to Jatinga may be attributed to heavy rains and floods and submergence of their natural habitat in the surrounding areas. It has been observed that there was a high congregation of birds at Jatinga during 1988 which happened to be a year of high floods. Renowned ornithologists Dr. Salim Ali, Dr. S.Sengupta, A. Rauf etc have carried out researches on this subject. However, no single hypothesis comprehensively explains the Jatinga mystery till date. Various studies have been conducted to unravel the causes behind this phenomenon. The record maintained show that 44 species have been attracted to the light sources. It has been established that the birds are not attracted to the entire Jatinga Ridge but only to a well-defined strip, 1.5 km long and 200 metres wide. Invariably the birds come in only from the north and attempts at placing the lights on the southern side of the ridge to attract the birds have failed. Another interesting fact has been brought out is that no long distance migratory bird gets attracted to the light traps. The victims are resident birds of the adjacent valleys and hill slopes. The problem deserves deeper scientific study from various angles.

According to an article published in a national daily The Statesman, during the year 1975, the birds are attracted to the villagers' torches and then killed upon landing. The Statesman does not explain why birds all over the planet are not also disoriented by torches and street lamps thus causing a much larger annual bird death toll.

Conservation groups and wildlife officials in India have taken steps to prevent wanton killing of birds across India, creating awareness in the illiterate villagers. Since then, the amount of birds killed have decreased by about 40 percent.

Birds and suicide! The two words do not go together. Birds are one of the most magnificent creations of God. But these splendid creations of God sometimes behave unnaturally. Why do birds commit suicide? No one knows! It's a mystery and no one knows what happens. Do birds really commit suicide? Are they killed or it is all natural death?

However, there is still ongoing research into this phenomenon.

As fog comes on a moonless night......

When the wind blows in direction right....

Jatinga turns into a valley of death,

& birds appear like ghosts from nowhere.

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