[ Apeda Rondo ]
Winter has almost arrived, and most of the Arunachalis do some periodic hunting in close-range community forests, such as embedding bamboo trapping, stone traps, rope traps, etc. However, these are now old methods and traditional techniques to snare for hunting wild animals and birds have disproportionately been replaced by dominant sophisticated weapons such as airguns and other binoculars-attached .22 LR (long range) cartridge guns, commonly known as ‘point 22 bore’ by some cultured netizens.
The Mishmi giant flying squirrel is a lesser known species, yet most frightened by hunters due to the ease and accessibility to kill it. Nevertheless, study reveals that the species contributes to one of the significant factors in sustaining our ecosystem. The species lives in the eastern Himalayan forests, at altitudes ranging from 2,000 to 5,200 ft, in the Mishmi hills of Arunachal Pradesh.
The species is listed as ‘near threatened’ in the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. The local Idu Mishmi tribe believed that the Mishmi giant squirrel had a mythical connection to their culture, as portrayed or narrated in various folktale stories, which may be the reason for the considerable population still in Dibang Valley.
It habited in meadow alpine shrub grassland and chooses to eat tree leaves, pine ridges, bird eggs, nuts, seeds and amphibians; during the day, it sleeps in the nestled, and it flies at night and quickly falls prey to fire sparkles and high-mast torchlight, which is an utmost candid way for the hunters to catch or shoot down at the spot.
The giant squirrel meat is highly consumed in the wintertime due to its fattiness, and it is considered a tasty meat. In earlier days, the meat was consumed by elderly Idu Mishmi women, too, but only after they were older than 50.
Typically, Idu women are considered to be vegetarian, except for this animal.
The average killing of this animal is expected to be 40 to 60 per number in winter, which means that a hunter kills around 5 to 10 digits each season; the peak time is November to February. The fact of the matter is, people kill it randomly for fun, picnicking, shooting plans over a drink, and out of curiosity. Nowadays, consuming this meat at home is not a valid reason; only having sophisticated weapons is just an unnecessary killing business in the regions.
Seasonal hunting is a long-inherited practice and ritual of the ethnic community for subsistence and sustenance in the past. In earlier days, it was a supplementary delicacy in the kitchens as tribal being so much onto wild meat consumption for proteins and survival while maintaining its ecosystem by partial hunting. During our childhood, the giant squirrel flew everywhere near the villages and community forests. Still, they are far away, and even their nests are hardly seen in big trees due to the decreasing population. Now the time has come to conserve and protect this beautiful creature which our ancestors passed on and promote nature-based wildlife tourism in the region. (Apeda Rondo is a travel consultant at Kanhi Kanla Tours & Travels. He may be reached at rondoadiju@gmail.com)
