Abstract

Identifying Optimal Reintroduction Sites for Bucorvus Leadbeateri in South Africa
Track: Forestry and Wildlife Management
Authors: Dirk Cilliers, Hendri Coetzee, Leon Van Rensburg

The Southern Ground-Hornbill (SGH) Bucorvus leadbeateri has been indicated by various authors as a species that is vulnerable, threatened, or even extinct in parts of its historical range in southern Africa. Reintroduction of hand-reared SGH chicks are considered a viable option to address the aforementioned situation, but in order to successfully reintroduce populations into the natural environment, it is crucial to know where the most suitable reintroduction spots will be. To acquire this knowledge, a detailed study investigating habitat preferences of the SGH must be undertaken. Due to a lack of presence-absence data for the SGH in South Africa it is difficult to identify sites to conduct this detailed habitat preference study, but by using available historical presence-only sighting data with various environmental datasets in an ecological-niche factor analysis (ENFA), probable sites can be easily identified for further investigation and groundtruthing.