Annual hornbill festival off to a flying start in Dandeli
By Arunkumar Huralimath | Express News Service | Published: 04th February 2018 02:29 AM |
Last Updated: 04th February 2018 05:40 AM | A+A A- |
Lesser whistling ducks fly over a lake during a bird watching session| D HEMANTH
DANDELI: Hornbills are the special attractions in forests around Dandeli. In order to preserve these endangering birds, which are known as “Farmers of Forest”, the government had notified 52.5 sq km forest falling in Dandeli range as Hornbill Conservation Reserve in 2011.
After declaring the range as Hornbill reserve, there was gradual increase in the number of these birds and the Forest Department is facing a challenge to feed them within this fenced forest.
Hornbills are monogamy. While laying eggs, female bird won’t come out of its nest and its male partners’ responsibility to feed them as well as the chicks. If the male dies, the female bird and chicks will die due to starvation. Before 2011, villagers in and around Dandeli used to kill hornbills for consumption. But after creating awareness, they have almost stopped killing the birds.
Out of nine species of hornbills in India, four species live in Dandeli forest area and they consume only 15-20 species of specified fruits. Now, following the increase in hornbill population, it is now become a challenge for the forest department to increase cultivation of trees producing these fruits in the dense forest areas.
Hornbill expert S S Kulkarni told Express that these birds are the symbol of richness of the forest. Hornbills eat only selected fruits in the forest and now population of these birds have been increasing in Dandeli forest area. It is the need of the hour to conserve and increase the trees that feeds hornbill. The forest department and experts should think about increasing such tree species, he added.
A senior forest officer said their department has been thinking about conserving the trees that feed hornbills and steps have already been initiated.
What hornbills eat
• Great Indian hornbills eat fruits of persea macrantha, alseodaphne semecarpifia, myristica dactyloides and vitex altissima trees
• Malabar gray hornbills eat fruits of logerstroemia microcorpa, terminalia bellirica, terminalia elliptica
• Indian grey hornbills eat fruits of lannea coromandelica, grewai tiliaefolia and ficus spp
• Malabar pied hornbills eat fruits of mimusops elengi, saraca asoca and strychnos nux-vomica
