Big, bold, and charismatic—enviable adjectives of the natural world in the human realm. But wild species answering to this description aren’t quite as fortunate. Many years of research have shown that threats from human activity impact large-bodied, wide-ranging species with specific diet and breeding needs far more severely than they do others. Both hornbills, (being large and wide-ranging) and endemic birds (being restricted to specific locations), fall in this category, and clearly deserve greater conservation attention than other species sharing their habitats.

The Western Ghats biological diversity hotspot has four hornbill species—the Indian Grey Hornbill (Ocyceros birostris, endemic to India), the Malabar Grey Hornbill (Ocyceros griseus, endemic to the Western Ghats), Malabar Pied Hornbill (Anthracoceros coronatus, endemic to India and Sri Lanka) and the widely distributed but endangered Great Hornbill (Buceros bicornis). Additionally, sixteen species of endemic birds are known from the region, although recent taxonomic reclassifications suggest possibly more species.

Surveys in the fragmented landscape of the Anamalai hills during the year 2000, revealed that hornbills can be sensitive to rainforest fragmentation, particularly related aspects such as the decline in the diversity of tree species that provide fruit year-round for hornbills. Since early 2005, NCF conducted a survey of protected areas and intervening reserved forests and private plantation areas along the Western Ghats, documenting the distribution and abundance of hornbills and endemic birds using extensive field surveys and secondary information, with population estimation in key areas. A larger goal was to identify key areas in the regional landscape for conservation and management of these flagship species and their habitats. Between February 2005 and May 2006, the survey covered 45 localities across five states: Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu. This included 26 Wildlife Sanctuaries, 5 National Parks, 13 Reserved Forests, and one plantation landscape. Across sites, 80 transect surveys of 286.4 km total length were walked.

At the northern end of the Ghats, the forests tend to be drier and highly fragmented, receding to the hilltops and ridges as agriculture expands. The remnants are also threatened by unbridled developmental projects, hydel reservoirs, and unregulated recreational and pilgrimage tourism. In southern Maharastra and Goa, the forests are wetter, often denser and offer better hope for long-term conservation of hornbills and endemics. This is true of much of the southern Western Ghats forests too. Based on hornbill distribution and protected areas, five important hornbill conservation landscapes were identified in the Western Ghats (Amboli-Goa-Dandeli, Anamalai-Parambikulam-Vazhachal, Nilgiris-Wayanad, Someshwara-Sharavati-Mookambika, Neyyar-Peppara-KMTR) along with key reserved forests (Kottiyoor, New Amarambalam, Vazhachal, Nelliampathy, Goodarickal, Kulathupuzha-Palode). Hornbill densities were estimated in two of the above landscapes. The survey also recorded 243 bird species, including 11 endemics.

To develop awareness about Western Ghats hornbills, a poster was prepared with the help of a wildlife artist, Maya Ramaswamy, and widely circulated among Forest Department, protected areas, conservation institutions, and individuals. A student project on Malabar Pied Hornbill was carried out as a follow-on. Based on the study and earlier work, tentative recommendations are proposed to Government of India to reinstate the Malabar Pied Hornbill and the two grey hornbills (particularly the former) in Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act pending wider public consultation.