Uttara Kannada: While various animal and bird species are increasingly becoming endangered, there’s some uplifting news from the forests of the Kali Tiger Reserve in Uttara Kannada district of the state. The population of the Malabar Pied Hornbill is growing steadily, according to naturalists, who feel its time for more research to understand the factors at work.
The forests are home to four species of Hornbills. Besides the Malabar Pied Hornbill, there are the Great Hornbill, Malabar Grey Hornbill and Indian Grey Hornbill. But the Malabar Pied Hornbill seems to be doing the best although all four species live in the same habitat, says naturalist, Mahendrakumar.
While a zoology professor of Karnataka University, Dharwad had pegged the numbers of the Malabar Pied Hornbill at less than a 100 in 1978, Mr Mahendrakumar believes their numbers have increased in thousands since as they are now frequently spotted in the forests.
The healthy tree cover, especially of the fruit bearing kind, and plenty of insects for the birds to feed on could be helping all four species of Hornbills in these forests of the Western Ghats, in his view.
“We often see a good number of Hornbills, especially the Malabar Pied Hornbill, feasting on fruits perched on trees which is a clear indication of their increasing numbers,” he says.
Deputy Conservator of Forests, Dandeli, Srinivas, confirms that all four species of the Hornbills are thriving in the forests owing to conservation efforts.
