630 People Discover Ziro's Hidden Wildlife at New Festival

Most visitors know Ziro Valley for its famous music festival, but this October, 630 people discovered something else worth celebrating in the forests around them.

At the valley's first Bird and Butterfly Festival, students and wildlife enthusiasts spent four days learning to identify the birds calling from treetops and butterflies fluttering along forest trails. The Hapoli Forest Division organized the event in Arunachal Pradesh's Lower Subansiri district, turning conservation from an abstract idea into something anyone could see, touch, and experience.

The festival started with paintbrushes and promises. Local students competed in wildlife painting, poetry, and essay contests, while over 450 people from 19 community organizations gathered to pledge protection of the valley's natural heritage.

Then came the real adventure. Deputy Commissioner Oli Perme flagged off a plastic-free trek from Manipolyang to Pange Camp in Tale Wildlife Sanctuary, where wildlife experts were waiting.

Over the final two days, participants joined early morning birdwatching walks and butterfly identification sessions along the Orchid Trail. Specialists from Bird Count India, the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, and the Wildlife Trust of India helped answer questions people often wonder about but never get to ask: Which bird is making that call? What kind of butterfly just flew past?

Divisional Forest Officer Tilling Takar designed the festival with one goal in mind: help people recognize the wildlife living around them. After all, it's easier to care about protecting something once you know its name.

The Ripple Effect

The festival brought together an unusual mix of people: forest officials, scientists, schoolchildren, and local youth groups who performed traditional music, boxing, and martial arts. Evening research presentations and wildlife documentaries connected outdoor discoveries to bigger conservation efforts.

Located in the biodiversity-rich Eastern Himalayan landscape, Ziro's forests shelter birds, butterflies, moths, and countless other species that play vital roles in nature through pollination and the food chain. Many visitors had walked past these creatures for years without noticing them.

Now hundreds of people can spot them, name them, and explain why they matter.

When you can identify a bird by its call or recognize a butterfly species, even a familiar path becomes an exciting discovery waiting to happen.