The southern ground hornbill is the largest species of hornbill, a type of bird with a large beak resembling a cow’s horn.
Southern ground hornbill (Bucorvus leadbeateri), Toronto Zoo.
In the wild southern ground hornbills live in the African savanna where they forage for all sorts of small animals — insects, reptiles, small mammals. Southern ground hornbills have a complicated breeding process that requires several individuals to take care of the young in one nest thus in addition to the actual parents there are always helpers in a family of hornbills. The incubation period for southern ground hornbill eggs is very long, up to 45 days.
Also southern ground hornbill pairs skip a year or two between breeding periods thus often producing a single chick every three years. This with that slow reproduction process it is not surprising that southern ground hornbills are threatened in the wild.
Further Readings:
Southern ground hornbill on Wikipedia.
Southern Ground hornbill on the Toronto Zoo website.
Southern ground hornbills on the Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve web site.
Hornbill on Wikipedia.