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Published on November 17, 2007

Pilai Poonswad of Mahidol University said a recent study of the hornbill population in Khao Yai found that their breeding cycle had increased from once every 120 days to 140 days. This change was first noted two years ago, she said.

"There could be any number of factors behind this extension - a change in climate, increasing tourists or something else altogether… we don't know yet," she said.

However, since the plants consumed by the great hornbill are climate-sensitive, Pilai wants agencies dealing with the climate issue to be more concerned and keep a close watch on the impact climate change has on the national park's ecosystem. Climate patterns in Khao Yai need to be closely monitored over the long term, she added.

The lone climate station in the national park is not sufficient to cover its entire area, and she has called on the Thai Meteorological Department (TMD) to install more.

TMD director-general Suparerk Tansrirattanawong said that though he planned to set up more climate stations nationwide, he was not going to install another one in Khao Yai. The climate stations are installed to protect humans from natural disasters, not solve environmental problems, he said.

A climate station measures temperature, volume of rain, wind direction and humidity in its vicinity.

The great hornbills, which are monogamous, have a strange breeding behaviour. They usually nest in natural tree cavities where the female, when she is ready to lay eggs, will seal herself in using faeces, mud, tree bark and food debris for the three months it takes for the eggs to hatch. The male bird feeds his partner through a small slit in the sealed cavity.

Pilai said climate change played an indirect role in extending the breeding period of the birds because it was affecting the lifecycles of the plants they fed on. She said one of her doctoral students was conducting a study on changes in their habitat.

Pennapa Hongthong

 The Nation