The
rufous-headed hornbill, known locally as dulungan, is a critically endangered
bird found only on the Philippine islands of Panay and Negros.
The
species is threatened by poaching and habitat loss, but a grassroots
conservation campaign over the past decade has sought to put the community in
Panay front and center of efforts to save the bird.
The
campaign has focused on schools; by raising awareness and understanding of the
species among children, conservationists hope the message ripples out through
the community.
Researchers
have also emphasized the need to further studies into the dulungan, given how
little is known about it, including its flight range and the fruit species it
prefers to eat.
The
school bell rings for recess and as the students prepare to leave their rooms,
a screeching bird call blares through the rooms and hallways of Sebaste
National High School, a public school in the province of Antique in the Visayas
region of the Philippines.
It
initially caught them off guard, says Joenas Tunguia, one of the teachers
behind the unusual announcement. The sound, followed by a series of short
spiels, forms part of a series of a school-based information campaign to raise
awareness about the rufous-headed hornbill or Walden’s hornbill (Rhabdotorrhinus
waldeni), known locally as dulungan.
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