EMN
Dimapur, January 6
The additional deputy commissioner of Mangkolemba subdivision, under Mokokchung, T Imtiwapang Aier, has directed all village councils under Mangkolemba sub-division to inform villagers and public to abstain from hunting the hornbills which have been sighted in the area. Any person violating this order will be penalized as per the provision under Section 51 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972.
Villagers in Mokokchung district have been reporting sightings of the revered but hunted bird recently. The hornbills (Bucerotidae) are a family of bird found in tropical and subtropical Africa, Asia and Melanesia. They are characterized by a long, down-curved bill which is frequently brightly colored and sometimes has a casque on the upper mandible. Both the common English and the scientific name of the family refer to the shape of the bill, “buceros” being “cow horn” in Greek.
Hornbills have a two-lobed kidney. They are the only birds in which the first and second neck vertebrae (the atlas and axis respectively) are fused together; this probably provides a more stable platform for carrying the bill. The family is omnivorous, feeding on fruit and small animals. They are monogamous breeders nesting in natural cavities in trees and sometimes cliffs. A number of species of hornbill are threatened with extinction, mostly insular species with small ranges.
On January 5, the people of Mangkolemba Sub-division and Khar villages reported that six hornbills arrived in the thick forest of Jangpetkong range from other place during Christmas and New Year.
Elderly people from the range said that the forest of Jangpetkong was home to Hornbill till 1960s, but due to human interference such as hunting and deforestation, the birds deserted the forest. After almost 55 years, the Hornbills are visiting the Jangpetkong forest.
It was reported that at daytime the hornbills could be seen in different locations of the Jangpetkong Range forest that stretches nearly 20 kms, but in the evening the birds would arrive to a certain location above Mangkolemba and below Khar village where the area is steep and thickly forested.
On January 4, photographers from the DPRO office of Mokokchung district visited the place to capture a glimpse of the hornbills but the birds could not be sighted. As of now one cannot state as to how long the hornbills would stay at Jangpetkong range as most of the fruit-bearing trees are no longer in the forest.
