[InKunming--Yunnan] Famous for long, down-curved bill which is frequently brightly colored, Asian hornbills are faced with extinction predicament because of habitat loss. Artifiial breeding of hornbill is also confronted with great diffiulties due to complex procedures of reproduction of this beatuiful creature.

At present, it is reported that only three cases have been successfully completed nationwide, two of which were achieved at Yunnan Wildlife Park in September. Visitors can see adorable little hornbills before long.

Wreathed Hornbills have quite special breeding habits. Before female birds hatch eggs, they would choose a nest in advance. Then, mixtures of excreta, seeds and branches will be used to block the nest only with a vertical crack for male birds to feed them. At last, female birds will lay eggs in the nest, hatch and breed them for months. Females hornbills will not come out of the nest until the young are ready to fly.

Female hornbill usually hides her squab behind her tail or under her wings. As a result, it is not easy to see the baby hornbills, even for the workers, according to Li Kanglan, the breeder at the zoo.

Li told jornalist that the length of the little hornbill’s body has already grown to 20 centimeters. When the baby birds become fully-fledged, the mother would peck the nest and come out after months of “confinement”.

It is estimated that visitors will be able to see the hornbill babies within this month in Rare Animal Area.

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(Editors: Spencer Rachel)