Sightings of rare hornbills proves Mae Wong National Park is healthy: bird photographer

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Sightings of rare hornbills proves Mae Wong National Park is healthy: bird photographer

By The Nation

 

A family of hornbills flies over the Mae Wong National Park/Credit: Artid Nima

 

The recent sighting of several hornbills proves that the Mae Wong National Park is in a healthy state, a well-known bird photographer says.

 

 

rufous-necked hornbill

 

Artid Nima, a Nakhon Sawan-based photographer, told the Nationon Tuesday (October 1) that he found the rarely spotted red-necked hornbills, also known as rufous-necked hornbills and wreathed hornbills, fascinating and that he had seen as many as three flocks comprising 30 such birds each in the forest. 

 

 

The 894-square-kilometre park straddles Nakhon Sawan and Kamphaeng Phet provinces some 370 kilometres north of Bangkok. 

 

“I have been carefully looking for the right time to catch sight of these birds and have been lucky with the weather,” he said. “This is the season for the parents to bring their off-spring to hunt for fruits.” 

 

 

He said he had taken several pictures of hornbills last month at the forest, which proves that the area is in a good condition. The park is known for four types of hornbills, including the wreathed hornbill and the red-necked hornbill.

 

 

As per information provided by the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, Mae Wong National Park is one of the best places in Thailand to catch sight of wild birds. 

 

 

Apart from the endangered red-necked hornbills, birdwatchers have reported seeing more than 300 species of birds in the park’s Chong Yen zone. 

 

The park’s Khun Nam Yen and Chong Yen zones are cool all year round as they are at the top of the mountain, the department said. 

 

 

Birdwatchers have to register with conservation officials at the Mae Wong station before they make their way to bird-watching spots.

 

Artid Nima

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30376960

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2019-10-02

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[IvorLott]

Great news but keep it quiet or they'll end up on a menu in China....

[andre47]

I have been there in April. It is a beautiful place.

 

[Nyezhov]

Someone needs to give me a ride up there.

[nobodysfriend]

Still beautiful .

Being the dominant species on this planet , it is our duty to preserve and save other species from extinction .

That can only be done by preserving their natural habitat .

Good for them , good for us .

Time to protect what is left from a once beautiful natural environment .

[Vacuum]

12 minutes ago, nobodysfriend said:

Being the dominant species on this planet , it is our duty to preserve and save other species from extinction .

Indeed, but some of the "dominant species" with deep pockets, can hunt anything they want without any consequences.

[Expat Brad]

Unfortunately any living creature outside of a PATROLLED protected forest is killed and eaten by the local's. Anything bigger than a sparrow lives in fear in my area, and the local's appear proud of their kill. If a Hornbill was here, it would be on someone's table quicker than you could blink. 

[Changoverandout]

8 hours ago, IvorLott said:

Great news but keep it quiet or they'll end up on a menu in China....

And just on Amarin news a story of people carving images out of their heads!!

[Mahseer]

Preservation not only a problem here. Was in Chin state Burma last year where the Great Hornbill is the State bird and enquired where I could see such a fine creature and folks looked at me as if I was enquiring about spotting a mating pair of Pterodactyls. Eventually found someone who reliably informed there was a possibility of seeing hornbills 3 valleys over. Guess the Pterodactyls shared them off.

[canopy]

1 hour ago, Expat Brad said:

Unfortunately any living creature outside of a PATROLLED protected forest is killed and eaten by the local's. Anything bigger than a sparrow lives in fear in my area, and the local's appear proud of their kill. If a Hornbill was here, it would be on someone's table quicker than you could blink. 

So true. It's one of the shocking truths you won't find in the tour books. And it's not Premchai that is the problem, who for the record was arrested and went on to lose to a number of charges in court. He failed to bribe his way out, delay his way out, buy his way out, or fancy lawyer his way out. He lost and that's a good thing. Like elsewhere in Thailand, the forests around my area are full of village poachers trapping, shooting, and burning everything and no one cares. Most on thaivisa will not care either because if it's the poor people doing it because then somehow it doesn't matter. If it was Premchai out there lighting fires and killing off everything in sight can you imagine the half million posts of angry thaivisa haters jumping up and down? The criticism would be endless. But if you are poor, then it gets 0 posts. Not one person stand up to them. The ranger who busted Premchai even went as far as to publicly excuse the poor to hunt. I don't get this double where the rich get arrested and the poor wreck the forests as they please. Back in my country if something neat like a hornbill is spotted people would reach for their camera. Here people will reach for shotguns, sling shots, rocks, just anything to kill it. Wildlife is not tolerated by villagers. The forests are hurting very badly. So it is so unusual and wonderful to see an example of hornbills finding somewhere they can live and thrive for now.

 

Edited October 2, 2019 by canopy

[jak2002003]

Great news.. and great photos.

 

In my view, conserving large areas of natural land, and allowing no humans to live or use the land is the only way to protect animals like this.

 

Even in a national park, and if a species is protected by law, it only takes a few greedy people to go out kill them off.  Animals like this can't live alongside humans in reality... just because of these few criminals and greed for money (and no fear of the usually pathetic punishments handed out if they are caught).  

 

Each country should set aside a percentage of it's land just for wilderness and wildlife, and allow no development or settlement in these areas.  These areas will also be a buffer for pollution, climate change, and bring in money from eco tourism.  

 

 

[fruitman]

I'm still hoping that one day they'll come to BKK and sit in the  tree in my garden.

[alacrity]

On 10/2/2019 at 2:16 PM, canopy said:

So true. It's one of the shocking truths you won't find in the tour books. And it's not Premchai that is the problem, who for the record was arrested and went on to lose to a number of charges in court. He failed to bribe his way out, delay his way out, buy his way out, or fancy lawyer his way out. He lost and that's a good thing. Like elsewhere in Thailand, the forests around my area are full of village poachers trapping, shooting, and burning everything and no one cares. Most on thaivisa will not care either because if it's the poor people doing it because then somehow it doesn't matter. If it was Premchai out there lighting fires and killing off everything in sight can you imagine the half million posts of angry thaivisa haters jumping up and down? The criticism would be endless. But if you are poor, then it gets 0 posts. Not one person stand up to them. The ranger who busted Premchai even went as far as to publicly excuse the poor to hunt. I don't get this double where the rich get arrested and the poor wreck the forests as they please. Back in my country if something neat like a hornbill is spotted people would reach for their camera. Here people will reach for shotguns, sling shots, rocks, just anything to kill it. Wildlife is not tolerated by villagers. The forests are hurting very badly. So it is so unusual and wonderful to see an example of hornbills finding somewhere they can live and thrive for now.

 

Because the rules of common decency/and respect for other creatures aren't respected.

In third world countries it's the norm. Takes more than one generation of educational opportunity to effect meaningful change.

Even when the controlling executive(s) have an inclination to be pro-active.

[White Christmas13]

On 10/2/2019 at 4:36 AM, IvorLott said:

Great news but keep it quiet or they'll end up on a menu in China....

it didn't take long to start China bashing

[White Christmas13]

On 10/2/2019 at 9:52 AM, nobodysfriend said:

Still beautiful .

Being the dominant species on this planet , it is our duty to preserve and save other species from extinction .

That can only be done by preserving their natural habitat .

Good for them , good for us .

Time to protect what is left from a once beautiful natural environment .

Not so good for the elephants in Khao Yai National Park

https://www.news.com.au/world/breaking-news/six-elephants-die-in-thailand-fall/news-story/daef7d7f0e90baf3207446a7865aa884

[SoilSpoil]

On 10/2/2019 at 11:58 PM, fruitman said:

I'm still hoping that one day they'll come to BKK and sit in the  tree in my garden.

There were a couple of them around Theparak about 10 years ago.

[fruitman]

12 hours ago, SoilSpoil said:

There were a couple of them around Theparak about 10 years ago.

Wow, is that in BKK?

 

I would love to have a rhinobird or tucan as a pet, it can be in a cage at night outdoors but in daytime i want it to be free. An owl would also be great.

 

Is that possible? We do have owls here.