6 November, 2024
The Yellow-casqued Hornbill is designated as vulnerable to extinction by the IUCN, but is one of the most prevalent hornbill species in online trade. Photo by mlanguy, CC BY-NC 4.0, via iNaturalist.
African hornbills were in the spotlight at this year’s African Bird Club Annual General Meeting! IBCP was honored to make an invited presentation featuring our collaborative research on hornbills in Cameroon. Tropical birds known for their massive bills, hornbills (Bucerotidae) include 27 African and 32 Asian species. Unfortunately, due to both overhunting and habitat destruction, nearly half of all hornbill species are now listed as threatened with extinction by the IUCN. Now, African hornbills face a new threat: commercial demand for their heads in international trade. We presented three lines of inquiry into the impacts and implications of commercial hunting on hornbills in Cameroon, one of the main African countries exporting hornbills for international trade: 1) investigating online sales, 2) evaluating hornbill hunting practices through interviews with residents, and 3) conducting field surveys of hornbills and hunting in southwest Cameroon.
The Black-casqued Hornbill declined in proximity to villages in Cameroon, where it is the subject of high hunting pressure. Photo by flint_jack, CC BY-NC 4.0, via iNaturalist.
Online hornbill trade includes skulls from 20 African species, representing nearly 75% (20/27) of species on the African continent. Nearly half (9/20) of African hornbill species we found in online trade were native to Cameroon, of which three species — the Yellow-casqued Hornbill (Ceratogymna elata), Black-casqued Hornbill (Ceratogymna atrata), and White-thighed Hornbill (Bycanistes albotibialis) — accounted for 66% of hornbill products online. Nearly three-quarters of Cameroonian hunters interviewed targeted hornbills, with 91% of these motivated to acquire hornbill heads for trade to foreign buyers. Hunters indicated that sales were driven by Asian demand that has emerged over the past two years, with locals understanding the nationality of buyers as Chinese. More details of our findings on online hornbill trade and hunting in Cameroon are included in an online publication.
The White-thighed Hornbill was one of three African hornbill species that accounted for 66% of hornbill products for sale online. Photo by Dérozier Violette, CC BY-NC 4.0, via iNaturalist.
We surveyed forest hornbill populations in western Cameroon to assess the relationship between hunting pressure and hornbill abundance. Hornbill abundance was significantly influenced by elevation, hunting levels, canopy cover, and distance from villages. Our findings suggest that hornbills in closed forests, which until recently were not subjected to gun hunting, exhibit heightened vulnerability to hunting. Hornbills exhibited lower abundance at lower elevations, where human densities were higher, and in proximity to villages. Hunting was associated with declines of up to 70% in hornbill abundance. Conservation action and monitoring are urgently needed to ensure the long-term survival of forest hornbills in Cameroon. More details of our findings on hornbill responses to hunting, habitat, and other factors are included in an online report. A video of our presentation can be viewed below. Special thanks to the African Bird Club leadership for the invitation to present, to Colin Jenson for taking questions at the event, and to everyone who attended the presentation!
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