Conservation at the zoo

Animal Fact Sheets

Partners for Wildlife

Wild Birds at the Zoo

What's in Bloom

Dr. Pilai Poonswad, the director of the Hornbill Research Foundation, with her hornbill team.

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Hornbill Research Foundation

Hornbill Research Foundation is working to save:

Bushy-crested Hornbill (Anorrhinus galeritus). International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listing is Near Threatened

White-crowned Hornbill (Berenicornis comatus). IUCN listing is Vulnerable

Great Hornbill (Buceros bicornis). IUCN listing is Near Threatened

Rhinoceros Hornbill (Buceros rhinoceros). IUCN listing is Endangered

Helmeted Hornbill (Rhinoplax vigil). IUCN listing is Endangered

Wreathed Hornbills (Rhyticeros undulates). IUCN listing is Near Threatened

Hornbills are large birds found in tropical forests in Africa and Asia. They require large trees with natural cavities for nesting (they do not excavate their own cavities like woodpeckers), which makes them especially vulnerable when large trees in their habitat are removed.

Habitat:

Tropical Malesian rainforest in and around Budo-Sungai Padi National Park, southern Thailand. Just under half of the total 189 sq. km (72 sq. miles) is primary forest, and the rest disturbed forest, fruit orchards, or rubber plantations

Critical threats to wildlife

Illegal logging and clearance for shifting cultivation threaten breeding sites for the hornbills.

Poaching

Hornbill Research Foundation Success Stories

95% reduction in poaching of hornbills since the beginning of HRF’s conservation-education campaign in 1994. Organized programs to train school teachers, children, young teenagers and villagers reach approximately 400 individuals each year.

Local people are employed as field assistants: over 40 former poachers/illegal loggers from 13 villages around Budo Mountain have protected access to nest sites and monitored the status of hornbill breeding and feeding behavior throughout year. Consequently, the breeding success from nest sites at Budo shot up by more than 70%. At the same time, the income generated for these families encourages their support for conservation and discourages reversion to poaching from the forest for income.

Established Budo Conservation & Education Center in Tapoh Village. This center accommodates school children, teenagers, adults and pre-schoolchildren that gather for cultural activities, in addition to conservation and educational activities. It also provides a resource for hornbill information for local and foreign tourists.