Gunjarav in Gir: After 86 years, Chilotra birds were placed in Gir forest, this bird works to plant trees in the forest.
There is a big bird called Indian Gray Hornbill. Its Gujarati name is Chilotro. Gray hornbill is found in different colors all over the world but only some types of chilotro are found in India. Kerala has a colored hornbill, Gujarat has a gray hornbill. Horn means horn and bill means beak. The hornbill that has an extra horn on its beak … 86 years ago in the year 1936, this bird was in the Gir forest, then became extinct in the Gir. At present in Gujarat, this bird is found in Aravalli forest, area around Gandhinagar, Dang forest. This Chilotra bird has made a great contribution in increasing the forest area and growing new trees. In short, the gray hornbill can only make the gir more green. Nature has assigned Gray Hornbill the responsibility of planting palm trees. -That is why about 20 Chilotras have been captured from Balaram and released in Gir forest.
Why Gray Hornbill Useful for Gir?
The Gray Hornbill is a bird that can be used for any forest, not just for Gir. The reason behind this is that the main food of the gray hornbill is the fruit of any tree. Fruit means banana, not Chiku. For example, if the head has a teta, it is its fruit. Lemongrass in neem, seed of khijra, horn of garmala are the fruits of any tree. Each of these fruits is the main food of the gray hornbill. The peculiarity of this is that, even if it picks fruit from the tree, not every fruit is eaten. Some of the fruit is broken and caught in the beak and dropped down by flying, thus throwing a number of fruits (seeds) in different parts of the forest every day and this seed becomes fruit and becomes a tree. Gray hornbill birds plant trees in the forest.
Solar Satellite Device
The Gujarat Forest Department has launched a unique campaign to re-introduce Indian Gray Hornbill. Which can bring back the Chilotra bird population back to Gir. As many as 20 Chilotras were apprehended from Balaram area near Ambaji with the help of experienced trappers and experts and taken to Sasan and tagged in his legs. It was fitted with a solar powered satellite device and a ring on the foot. Data can be obtained through transmitters via satellite devices with solar energy. The code for the identification of the bird is written in the ring.
In this regard, Gujarat Wildlife Board member Bhushanbhai Pandya told Divya Bhaskar that the special thing is that tags were made in the memory of Saurashtra ornithologist Dharmendrasinhji Raol and ornithologist Lovekumar Khachar. In which ‘RSD’ and ‘LK’ were written. These tags were attached to the left leg of the Indian Gray Hornbill. After 86 years, 10 pairs i.e. 20 birds have been placed in Gir. As far back as I can remember, there were 6 or 8 Hornbill Birds in the 1980’s, but it could be that they were going out of Gir.
There was a lot of hunting for Tantric education
Gray hornbills were formerly a mythical bird. If there is obsession, restlessness, whooping cough, the problems can be removed by tying the bones of the gray hornbill bird in a rope around the neck. Such beliefs existed a century ago and then there was no such thing as roads, technology, vehicles, forest laws. This means that hunters can easily hunt by entering the forest. Gradually the population of Chilotra started declining from Gir and last Chilotra was seen in Gir in 1936.
