Artigo Acesso aberto

Distribution and Threats of Rufous-Necked Hornbill (Acerosnipalensis) in Bhutan

2020; Volume: 9; Issue: 11 Linguagem: Inglês

10.21275/sr201111231036

ISSN

2319-7064

Autores

Tej Kumar Nepal,

Tópico(s)

Rangeland and Wildlife Management

Resumo

Hornbills (Bucerolidae) have a huge bill with a casque on upper mandible in some species.The casque is smaller in female in some species.Rufous-necked Hornbill (Acerosnipalensis), which belongs to Bucerolidae family, is a big bird measuring 90-100 cm long, with around 150 cm wingspan and weighing somewhat between 2 and 4 kg (4.4 to 8.8 lb).They are found in the Indian Subcontinent, East Asia and Southeast Asia.It is listed as Vulnerable in IUCN Red List, Appendix II of CITES and Schedule I (totally protected wild animals) species in Forest and Nature Conservation Act of Bhutan, 1995.It has high forest dependency and is mostly found between the altitude of 150 and 2,200 meters.Rufous-necked Hornbill mostly feeds on berries, drupes, fruits of Lauraceae spp., Moraceae spp., Annonaceae spp.and Meliaceae spp.In Bhutan, Rufous-necked Hornbill is reported from Samtse, Chhukha, Trashigang, Zhemgang, Monggar, SamdrupJongkhar, Sarpang Districts, along PunatshangChhu, and mostly from Wildlife Sanctuaries and National Parks.Though being vulnerable in nature and ecologically important species, it is poorly studied and documented in Bhutan.Therefore, this paper aimed to review published secondary sources related to Rufous-necked Hornbill in Bhutan.The result showed that there were no illegal killings of species in Bhutan.Habitats are threatened because of timber extraction, road construction, clearing of forest for power transmission lines and dying of nest trees.

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