Status and distribution of hornbills in Thailand: 2Hornbill studies are being carried out at several sanctuaries. The list below gives some indication of the work being carried out and the population sizes and species present. Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary is situated in western Thailand and covers some 2,800 km2. Habitat types are diverse, comprising 47% tropical evergreen forest, 43% mixed deciduous forest, 6% dry dipterocarp forest, 3.5% mixed deciduous scrub and bamboo, and small areas of old clearings, non-forest and open water.3 Hornbill studies in this area have been carried out since 1990, and intensively since 1992. There are two study sites, the first of around 100 km2 at Nong Ma along the Huai Kha Khaeng river and the second of about 50 km2 at Khao Nang Ram/Khao Khieo. Currently there is a Woodpecker Study Project being conducted at Nong Ma which is focusing on the importance of woodpeckers in generating suitable nest holes for hornbills. Intensive hornbill research has been conducted at Khao Yai National Park since 1980. The study area is around 70 km2 and contains 60 km2 of forest and 10 km2 grassland in the north-west sector the park. The habitat is mainly wet evergreen forest lying between 400 and 1,060 m. Dr Pilai Poonswad has estimated the population of hornbills in the study area as six per km2. The population of Oriental Pied Hornbills is relatively small in the study area because it is heavily forested and this is usually a forest edge species. The estimated population of Wreathed Hornbills for the whole of Khao Yai National Park is 1,500 individuals, for Oriental Pied Hornbill about 1,000, for Great Pied fewer than 1,000 and for (Austen's) Brown Hornbill fewer than 500 individuals.
Budo and Hala-Bala is located at the southern tip of Thailand, close to the Malaysian border. Both are newly protected areas and were, until recently, controlled by Muslim separatists. Even now they are not always considered safe. Studies in this area began in 1994 and the ongoing research is concentrating on nesting records. Hornbills here are severely threatened because the local villagers are poaching the chicks to sell as pets or to eat them. Threats to hornbills and future conservation of hornbills The Hornbill Research Foundation has set up a Hornbill Family Adoption Program. This aims to raise funds to provide extra income for villagers to protect any nesting hornbills they find and collect data on them. For details of how to adopt a hornbill family, please contact the Hornbill Research Foundation, c/o Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Mahidol Unversity, Rama 6 Road, Bangkok 10400, Thailand. Tel. +66 2 246 3026 ext. 4606, fax +66 2 644 5411, email scpps@mucc.mahidol.ac.th Acknowledgements References
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