Indian Grey Hornbill returns to Gujarat’s Gir forests after six decades

Key facts

• The Indian Grey Hornbill, which disappeared from Gujarat's Gir forests in the 1950s–1960s due to hunting, has been successfully reintroduced.
• A total of 40 Indian Grey Hornbills were translocated from healthy populations in Gujarat’s Aravalli forests and released in Gir between 2021 and 2023.
• Satellite tracking of 11 male hornbills revealed that their average home range contracted from 61 sq km during the exploratory phase to 5.7 sq km after settlement.
• The reintroduced population has bred successfully for four consecutive years, with one nesting pair in the first year expanding to three additional pairs by the second year.
• The birds prefer mature dry mixed deciduous and teak forests for nesting, particularly in old-growth trees such as Sterculia urens and Terminalia bellirica.
• Indian Grey Hornbills serve as important long-distance seed dispersers, feeding on fruits like banyan, peepal, karamda and dhraman, thereby aiding natural forest regeneration.