Pride and Shame: Saving Philippine Hornbills ------------------------------------------------------------------ “Other countries share borders so their hornbills travel. Ours stay put,” Lu said of the fruit-eating birds, which are known as excellent seed-dispersing agents and as natural alarm clocks because of the noise they regularly make at certain hours of the day. And yet they seem to be unloved in their own homeland: Nine of the 57 hornbill species worldwide have been found to be endemic to the Philippines, but the country is now bleakly on the bird lovers’ radar for losing the Ticao Tarictic of Masbate province, the first hornbill subspecies on the planet to become extinct. “This is almost certainly the first time a hornbill has been driven to extinction by human activity anywhere in the world— a shameful situation for the country as a whole,” according to the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau, whose posters formed part of the exhibit. Seven of the Philippine hornbill species are now considered endangered, the WBCP added. “These magnificent birds are a source of national pride and yet are threatened to the brink of extinction due to human-related pressures.”
Posted on: Tue, 01 Apr 2014 00:01:30 +0000
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