Philincon cites poaching of hornbills in Panay amid Covid-19 crisis

PANDAN, Antique -- The Philippine Initiative for Environmental Conservation (Philincon) has reported continuous poaching of hornbills in the hinterlands of the Northwest Panay Peninsula (NPP).

Rhea Santillan, project manager of the Philincon, said they first discovered the poaching since last week of March 2020.

“Our forest rangers then visited our Sibalew (research) station in Pandan and there we found traces of poaching which includes traps for hornbills,” she said.

Santillan said the forest rangers confiscated weapons and traps used for hunting hornbills.

“We believed that residents turned to poaching due to hunger brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic,” she said.

According to the Pandan Inter-Agency Task Force, there are eight cases of Covid-19 here including a three-year-old child.

Santillan said forest rangers are doubling their time to ensure the conservation of both Visayan Tarictic Hornbills and the Writhed-billed hornbills found in Panay.

In 2015, the Philincon noted 1,183 nests of hornbills found in the NPP. The NPP includes adjacent towns of Pandan and Libertad in Antique and Nabas, Malay and Buruanga in Aklan.

The NPP is considered a protected or conservation area. (SunStar Philippines)