Scientific Name:
Bucorvus leadbeateri
Distribution
Southern and Eastern Africa.
Diet:
Generally carnivorous, their diet consists of arthropods, lizards, amprhibians, snakes, hares, and sometimes carrion, seeds and fruit.
Facts
Habitat: Woodland and savannah habitats.
Incubation: Monogamous, they lay 1-2 eggs but in the end only the first survives, the second one dies of starvation.
Social structure: groups of 2-11 individuals, one single breeding pair and helpers.
Weight: max 6,1 kg male, max 4,6 kg female
Dimensions: max 102cm length
Lifespan: unknown (54+ in human care)
IUCN Status: Vulnerable
Estimated population in the wild: Unknown but thought to be common-Decreasing
Threats: Degradation and destruction of their habitat due to the expansion of agricultural land, persecution due to superstitions, secondary poisoning, electrocution on electrical lines.
Did you know that:
- It is the world’s largest Hornbill.
- Females are not sealed in to the nest as is typical of other hornbill species.
- The species is protected in Africa by the Mabula Southern Ground Hornbill Project group, where they take the second egg or hatchling from the nest (which usually dies of starvation) and raise the young for reintroduction to the wild.