Malaysia: Hornbills get helping hand

New Straits Times 19 Mar 12;

MORE data on when and where hornbills breed is needed in Sabah, according to an expert who conducted an assessment at the Lower Kinabatangan recently.

Professor Pilai Poonswad of the Hornbill Research Foundation and Mahidol University in Thailand said the lack of information on the birds was a cause for concern towards its continued survival.

She led a team of researchers in conducting a week-long study recently with locals from the Sabah Wildlife Department, Hutan-Kinabatangan Orangutan Conservation Programme and the Danau Girang Field Centre. The effort was funded by Chester and Woodland Park Zoo.

Pilai, who studied and carried out community-based conservation efforts in Thailand the last 33 years, said there was not enough information on the breeding cycles of hornbills in the state while in Lower Kinabatangan there are not many suitable nesting trees.

"I understand that the Lower Kinabatangan is a forest that has previously been extensively logged and I can clearly see it is also now part of the oil palm landscape.

"This means that big trees which are usually preferred by hornbills are missing from this area.

"For example, in a similar site in southern Thailand, Rhinoceros Hornbills on average make nests in trees that have a diameter of about 148cm but in the Lower Kinabatangan, trees that might be suitable were mostly between 40cm to 60cm in diameter.

"Talking to our counterparts here, we know that the Rhinoceros Hornbills are seen along the Lower Kinabatangan, even in flocks, but this doesn't mean they are nesting here.

"They can be seen during non-breeding cycles, which is why it is important to establish the basic information of breeding cycles."

Hutan scientific director Dr Marc Acrenaz said Pilai and her team had helped repair a nesting site near Danau Girang and built another near a homestay in Sukau because of their concern on seeing a pair of Oriental Pied Hornbill daily near where they stayed.

"The dedication and passion of the HRF is extraordinary, and I am grateful that they made the time to come down to the Lower Kinabatangan to do this much-needed rapid assessment," said Acrenaza, who added there are eight hornbills species in Lower Kinabatangan.