Taninthayi Region Chief Minister Dr. Le Le Maw has sent three hornbills to Chin State to help prevent the extinction of Chin State’s population.
The chief minister said at a recent workshop Myeik: “I received a letter from the Chin State government. In his letter, the Chin State chief minister said the hornbill is on the verge of extinction.”
“The hornbill is a Chin national symbol and appears on the Chin national flag. He said there are 36 hornbills in Kawthaung. I sent three hornbills to him on Chin National Day,” Dr. Le Le Maw said.
Hornbills can reportedly be found on islands south of the Myeik Archipelago and on Done (Ross) Island.
Shein Gay Ngaing, the chair of the Mountain Region Eco System Conservation Association, told Eleven: “The hornbill’s natural habitat is deep, thick forest. Chin State has suffered deforestation due to expanding farmland. Since then, hornbill has been the verge of extinction [in the region]. For 20 years, we haven’t seen hornbills in the south or north of Chin State. A few hornbills remain in the area west of Kanpetlet and Paletwa townships.”
IUCN has labelled the great hornbill ‘near threatened’ on its Red List of Threatened Species.
