Team

Aparajita Datta

Aparajita is a Senior Scientist at the Nature Conservation Foundation heading its Eastern Himalaya Program. She has been involved in research and conservation in Arunachal Pradesh since 1995 and a primary focus of her work has been on hornbills. Her main interests include plant-animal interactions in rainforests, understanding anthropogenic effects on wildlife, and engaging with tribal communities for conservation.

Divya Mudappa

Divya Mudappa is a Senior Scientist at the Nature Conservation Foundation and heads the Western Ghats Rainforest program. Divya's primary research area is in the field of tropical ecology, particularly of rainforests, restoration ecology and conservation biology. In addition, she is also interested in small carnivores, hornbills, plant-animal interactions and animal behaviour.

Kumar Thapa

Kumar has been working with the Eastern Himalaya program since 2009 assisting with the phenology, hornbill nest and roost monitoring work and various other research projects in Pakke Tiger Reserve. He is from Balijuri village in Assam close to the border with Arunachal Pradesh. He is extremely hardworking, knows the trees of Pakke very well and is a keen observerer in the forest. He loves using a camera to photograph plants and other wildlife he comes across during fieldwork in the forests.

Khem Thapa

Khem has been working with the Eastern Himalaya program since 2009 assisting with the phenology, hornbill nest and roost monitoring work and various other research projects in Pakke Tiger Reserve. He is from Balijuri village in Assam close to the border with Arunachal Pradesh. He is extremely hardworking, knows the trees of Pakke very well and is a keen observerer in the forest. He loves using a camera to photograph plants and other wildlife he comes across during fieldwork in the forests.

Ramki Sreenivasan

Ramki Sreenivasan is a Bangalore-based technology entrepreneur, birder and wildlife photographer. He co-founded Conservation India in January 2012 – a non-profit, non-commercial portal that facilitates wildlife and nature conservation.

Rohit Naniwadekar

Rohit is a Research Scholar at the Nature Conservation Foundation and works with the Eastern Himalaya Program. Since 2008, he has undertaken research on hornbills for his PhD in Namdapha Tiger Reserve and surveys to assess their status across Arunachal Pradesh and other states in north-east India. He is keenly interested in seed dispersal, frugivory and anthropogenic effects on ecosystem processes.

Sachin Rai

Sachin Rai is an award-winning wildlife photographer and an active supporter of many conservation NGOs especially in their outreach programmes. As a photographer, he documents little known and rarely observed aspects of nature, sharing his work with citizens and scientists through his website Land of the Wild, Land of the Wild.

Vikram Hiresavi

Vikram is an amateur naturalist and a tech entrepreneur who's set out to help wildlife conservation organizations get their technology and digital marketing systems in place. He's also launching a platform for Indian wildlife organizations to raise funds from around India and the world.

The following people are involved in the Hornbill Nest Adoption Program:

Vijay Tachang

Vijay Tachang is from A1 village and joined as a nest protector in the Hornbill Nest Adoption Program in 2013.

Budhiram Tai

Budhiram Tai is the headman of Darlong village and an active member of the Ghora-Aabhe Society. He has been working in the Hornbill Nest Adoption Program since 2011 and is a very wise and concerned nest protector.

Gingma Tachang

Gingma Tachang is from A2 village and has been working in the Hornbill Nest Adoption Program since 2012. He is a quiet and sincere nest protector.

Ohey Tayem

Ohey is a very keen and efficient nest protector from A2 village and started working in the Hornbill Nest Adoption Program in 2013. He also works as a nature guide at a local tourism initiative - the Pakke Jungle Camp in Seijosa, Arunachal Pradesh. He is keenly interested in bird-watching and learning more about plants and other faunal groups.

Pahi Tachang

Pahi Tachang is the headman of Mabuso 2 village and an active member of the Ghora-Aabhe Society. He has been working in the Hornbill Nest Adoption Program since 2011 and is a very wise and dedicated nest protector.

Rungfe Paffa

Rungfe is from Goloso village and has been working with the Hornbill Nest Adoption Program since 2012. Rungfe loves to talk and crack jokes and is an enthusiastic nest protector.

Suraj Bagang

Suraj is from Lanka village and has been working as a nest protector since 2012.

Tade Tok

Tade Tok is the headman of Mabuso 1 and a member of the Ghora-Aabhe Society. He has been working in the Hornbill Nest Adoption Program since 2011. Despite being the oldest, he is a very energetic and enthusiastic nest protector.

Tajek Tachang

Tajek is the youngest nest protector in our team and very interested in the work. He has been working with the Hornbill Nest Adoption Program since 2013Tajek is the youngest nest protector in our team and very interested in the work. He has been working with the Hornbill Nest Adoption Program since 2013.

Tajek Wage

Tajek Wage is the headman of Jolly village and a member of the Ghora-Aabhe Society. He has been working in the Hornbill Nest Adoption Program since 2011. Despite his age, he works very hard to monitor the nests. He is also funny, loves to dance and sing and keeps everyone entertained.

Takum Nabum

Takum Nabum is the headman (Gaonburra) of A2 village and Chairman of the Ghora-Aabhe Society (council of village headmen, a local NGO in Seijosa, Arunachal Pradesh) which works towards creating awareness among villagers regarding wildlife conservation in and around Pakke Tiger Reserve. He has been a key person in initiating the Hornbill Nest Adoption Program in 2011.

Tana Tapi

Tana Tapi, the Divisional Forest Officer of Pakke Tiger Reserve, is a dynamic officer who has completely changed the way Pakke functions by setting up effective protection measures among many other diverse initiatives. He also actively encourages and takes a keen interest in all research and conservation activities in and around Pakke. He was instrumental in supporting and encouraging the initiation of the Hornbill Nest Adoption Program. The Arunachal Pradesh Forest Department is a partner in the program providing various support and advice.

Taring Tachang

Taring is a young nest protector from Bali village and has been working with the Hornbill Nest Adoption Program since 2012. Taring is a very sharp observer in the forests. Taring's twin brother was killed by an elephant while guarding their rice fields. Yet, Taring and his father, who is also a member of the Ghora-Aabhe society are interested in helping in wildlife conservation.

Acknowledgements

We thank Kalyan Varma, Niranjan Sant, Dhritiman Mukherjee, and S.U. Saravana Kumar for generously sharing their images for the website.

Some other images used were taken by Ramki Sreenivasan, Sachin Rai, Rohit Naniwadekar, Aparajita Datta and Amruta Rane. We thank Aakanksha Rathore, Ushma Shukla, Swati Sidhu for their assistance in managing the site and analysing the data.