VIJAYAWADA: This Sankranthi, get ready for an ‘aerial attack’ at rooster fight arenas. Exotic roosters from Thailand and Australia that are capable of flying high and launching a sort of aerial attack on opponents will exhibit their ‘martial’ skills during cockfights in East Godavari district this festival of harvest.Not content with the pugnacity of the Indian Aseel, the beautiful descendant of the Indian Jungle fowl known for its fight-unto-death genetic makeup, fight organisers and punters have imported roosters from Thailand and Australia.These birds are light in weight and thus can fly higher than the local breed. This gives the exotic breed an aerial advantage to attack the unsuspecting local bird.These exotic birds from Thailand and Australia are in fact, close relatives of the Indian Aseel, and will make their maiden entry this Sankranti. These imported birds have been kept at an undisclosed location near Kakinada fearing police raids. Thai and Australian cousins of the Indian Aseel are highly pugnacious and fight to defeat their opponent. However, they are not known to fight-to-death unlike the Indian or Andhra Aseel.Sources said fighter roosters from Thailand and Australia were smuggled into Kakinada from the sea route. A farmer told TOI on condition of anonymity that eggs were earlier smuggled into the state, but they failed to hatch. This time, live birds were brought illegally. The birds travelled for about 20 days, and are now kept at the house of a punter for training in martial skills, including swimming, running and fighting.According to breeders, Andhra Aseel (Aseel in Arabic means high-quality breed) is heavily built and its heavy weight does not make it as agile as the imported breeds. Andhra Aseel weighs between 3-5 kg, while the Thai bird weighs up to 3 kg. The Australian breed is slightly heavy, but not as heavy as its Telugu cousin. Aseel breed is so notorious for its martial skills that its hatchlings as old as a day begin to fight each other.