Global heating is exacerbating the harsh conditions associated with arid environments by elevating average air temperatures and increasing the frequency and intensity of heatwaves and drought. Possible consequences for animals inhabiting arid regions include increased frequency of mass mortality events and disastrous reproductive failures. However, heatwaves, especially in association with droughts, may also have insidious […]
Tag: hornbill
As animal seed dispersers go the way of the dodo, forest plants are at risk
The few remaining rainforests on Mauritius whisper with the memory of former residents, now ghosts. This once-lush Indian Ocean island remained mostly uninhabited by humans until 1598, when it became a Dutch port of call. By the time the French government took over some 150 years later and imported slaves to start sugar plantations, the […]
One in six Australian birds are now threatened, landmark action plan finds
One in six Australian birds are now threatened, according to a once-in-a-decade study that finds the climate emergency is pushing species closer to extinction. The action plan for birds is a major scientific study led by Stephen Garnett of Charles Darwin University, with input from more than 300 bird experts. It finds 216 out of […]
Police bust 2 men selling hornbills on Indonesian Facebook
Police in Indonesia’s Banten province arrested two men who were using social media to sell dozens of hornbills, an iconic bird under threat from habitat loss and poaching. Didin Hendriana, 35, procured the birds, buying them from people living near Ujung Kulon National Park on the western tip of Java, and Luki Hamjah, 20, was […]
A buffer zone for Thailand, last great hope for wildlife in Southeast Asia (commentary)
It might sound nihilistic and harsh to describe Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia (Indochina) as forming a kind of buffer zone against the onslaught of snaring and the defaunation of forests that have engulfed the region, but that may be exactly what these countries represent, and even Thailand is not safe. The Indochinese tiger is extinct […]
To keep tabs on ecosystem health in Borneo, follow these birds: Study
JAKARTA — To improve ecosystem management in Borneo, look at the population trends of key bird species on the island, researchers say. The scientists from the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and Indonesia’s Tanjungpura University have found that six Bornean bird species are strong indicators of intact forests — mixed dipterocarp and heath — […]
A good year for the Philippine eagle in 2020, but not for its supporters
MINDANAO, Philippines — Efforts to conserve the critically endangered Philippine eagle, one of the rarest raptors in the world, soared high even amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the global havoc wreaked by the health crisis, the year 2020 ended on a high note for eagle conservationists, with at least two eagle families sighted in the […]
Ornithologists discover more rare hornbills than thought on Philippine island
MANILA — As a rare species of endemic hornbills disappeared from island after island in the Philippines, ornithologists pinned their hopes on Negros: a little-surveyed island in the center of the Philippine archipelago, whose remaining forest areas could potentially hide a population never before seen or recorded by experts. This year, their speculations were confirmed: […]