PERCHED atop a tree, a male hornbill scanned the secondary forests as it guarded its “nest”. Little did it know that its life was about to end in the hands of hunters who had spotted him.
Hunting is one of the two major reasons why hornbills are getting fewer in Sabah. The other reason is weak Wildlife Enactment and enforcement, according to Sabah Parks official Alim Biun.
Biun, who is also a bird researcher, said there are 55 hornbill species in the world and only eight species can be found in Southeast Asian countries.
“These birds are not endemic to Sabah, which is why it is a little risky when it comes to hornbills,” said Biun who has published more than 20 journals on birds.
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The Bundu Tuhan native explained that hornbills are generally monogamous – they stick to one partner for life.
They also have a unique form of breeding. “Hornbills don’t make nest, they depend on the natural hallow that are made by other animals. During the breeding time, the couple works together unlike other birds.
“They maintain the hollow if it is suitable for the female to lay egg or look after the egg. Once they find a suitable hollow, they will maintain it.”
Biun explained that only after the pair has found a suitable hollow, then they will mate. They won’t mate until they have found a suitable hollow.
“They will normally look for hollow high up on the tree, big trees, usually secondary forests where there are natural tree hollows, mostly in the natural lowland jungle,” he said.
During the breeding period, the female hornbill will live inside a tree hollow which she seals from the inside. She will stay in the hollow for up to three to six months depending on the species.
Hornbills will lay more than two eggs, but generally they will only keep two eggs, while the rest is consumed for protein. Female hornbills will eat their own eggs for certain uses inside the hollow.
“During the incubating period, the male hornbill will look for food to feed the female because she cannot go out to find the food for herself. The female hornbill depend on the male for survival during this period.
“If hunters kill the male hornbills, it will mean the whole family will also be killed. This is the reason why hornbills are declining,” he said.
He said the native people don’t really care about the licence despite the Wildlife Enactment which forbids hunting without a licence.
“They continue hunting. During the breeding season, I can only assume that more hornbills will be killed, because killing the male would mean killing the whole family,” he said.
Two main reasons for hunters’ interest in the hornbills is its meat and feathers which is used for cultural purposes.
The hornbill casques for example, like the Helmeted Hornbill is not so really attractive to the local people, only for their decorations. But its casques is very attractive to most of the hunters who will sell it to other countries, said Biun.
Superstition may also be another reason why hornbills are hunted for its casque, where some believe that it can protect one from poisoning.
He said it is very hard to protect not only hornbills but also wildlife due to the mindset of the people which lacks awareness on the need to preserve and conserve nature.
“Hunters here, for example, their mindset is very different from other countries. Other countries, they (hunters) are honest. In fact, once in a while like in the western countries where they allow duck hunting, sometimes they issue permits and the hunters themselves will report to the authority how many ducks are killed.
“But in Sabah, hunters for example will ask for hunting licence from the Wildlife Department to hunt one Sambar deer, but instead of killing only one deer, they will kill many sambar deer and only report one. That is the problem here,” he said.
He said there is also the passion to hunt, as well as the urge for hornbill meat.
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“Hornbills are usually hunted for self-consumption,” he said.
“I asked them (hunters), why kill wild birds? They say that the wild birds are tastier compared to chicken, but I think it’s because of the thrill form hunting,” he said.
On the difference between hornbills in Sabah and Sarawak, Biun said the hornbills in Sabah is the same species found in Sarawak.
“There are only eight hornbill species in Sabah and Sarawak, unlike in the peninsular which has 10 species, Thailand has 13, while the Philippines and Sulawesi Indonesia have hornbills endemic to their land,” he said.
He, however, has no statistics on the actual number of hornbills currently in Sabah. But based on his previous study, the estimated density in Trusmadi alone showed less than two hornbills per one square kilometre.
He said it is supposed to be up to four instead of only one hornbill per square kilometre in the natural forest.
Biun said land clearing is another major contributor to the decline in hornbills, because once the forests is cleared, they have no place to breed, no place to lay their eggs and it is impossible to reproduce.
Sabah, he said, is very ideal for bird watching. “My place in Bundu Tuhan is located on a higher altitude, my house is 1,200 meters above sea level, at such altitude, it is the meeting place of lowland and highland birds.”
This makes it the perfect place for bird watching because of the many birds which fly form the low land and also highland.
“Most of the birds that is endemic and sub-endemic to Borneo live by the interior in the natural forest, some also on the island, there is also coastal birds or water birds which are mostly migratory birds from other countries during winter time in the northern or from the south.”
He said birds have undoubtedly attracted a lot of tourists to Sabah and not just to Mount Kinabalu.
“We have promoted many birding destination in Sabah for tourism purposes, like Mount Kinabalu itself, and also Sepilok, Danum Valley, Tabin, Maliau Basin, coastal areas and many other places,” he said.
He said there have been occasions where birders from other countries travel across the globe just to see rare species of birds like the Whitehead Spiderhunter, Whitehead Broadbill and Whitehead Trogon.
“These three species are the key for Kinabalu Parks as a birding tourist destination because these birds are quite rare and it would be by luck to have an opportunity to see them,” he said.
He said most of the tourists are quite interested in seeing the endemic species, adding that Sabah has 55 endemic bird species to Borneo.
“But according to our current research technology, because scientists now using something like DNA, instead of the totally endemic species, now it’s been added to more than 100 sub-endemic species.
“Sabah is getting more attractive in terms of birding because more endemic species have now been discovered,” he said.
Apart from the regular tourists, researchers have also flown all the way from Japan, the US, Europe and Australia to Sabah just to study birds in Sabah.
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That aside, Biun said there is the need to strengthen the Wildlife Enactment and also the enforcement is equally important in creating awareness and education about nature conservation at an early age.
“You must start from an early age, this is what I learned from my personal experience. People asked me what drove my passion towards bird researching and I told them that I was taught by my grandfather from an early age,” he said.
For Biun, it was easy to identify birds by its scientific or other common names because he knew their local names from his grandfather at a young age.
“My interest in plants, animals and birds grew since young, I was trained by my grandfather who was a very good hunter in any kind of animal hunting, including birds.
“My grandfather used to take me to the forest and taught me the names of the animal, birds and plants, especially medicinal plants,” he said.
He noted, however, that there is still much room for improvement where bird research is concerned. “There are many local students who are really interested in studying birds, but once they complete their bachelor degrees and once they land jobs, they stop doing research, it ends there.”
“I have ornithologist friends in Japan who studied birds from diploma level all the way up to PhD and now they are specialists, but in Malaysia there are not many bird specialists.
“Not many local students are interested in picking up a career as an ornithologist, I thus hope those who are already in this field will continue studying this important creature,” he said.
Rhinoceros Hornbill. (Photo credit – Alim Biun)
Black Hornbill. (Photo credit – Alim Biun)
Bushy-crested Hornbill. (Photo credit – Alim Biun.
Pale-faced Bulbul endemic to Sabah. (Photo credit: Alim Biun)
Oriental Pied Hornbill. (Photo credit – Alim Biun)
Fruithunter endemic to Sabah. (photo credit: Alim Biun)
Mountain Blackeye endemic to Sabah. (photo credit: Alim Biun)
Square-tailed Drongo-cuckoo. (Photo credit: Alim Biun)