Balaenicipitidae

Balaeniceps rex
Shoebill
Schoenbekooievaar (Dutch)

ZMA 26542
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Vulnerable A bird of large seasonally flooded papyrus-swamps in the Afrotropics, prefering those with floating mats of vegetation. This type of habitat is scarce, and becomes increasingly rarer because of droughts, cutting, overgrazing by livestock, and fires; the birds themselves are hunted or snared for the cage-bird trade. Occurs in a number of reserves, but some of these are inadequately protected or have been given up after political unrest. The number of birds was estimated at 12-15,000 by 1995, with major strongholds in Sudan, Tanzania, and Zambia, but as the threats listed above continue here and elsewhere in the species' range, the number is gradually falling.

Items in the ZMA - 2 birds:
ZMA 26542 Adult female, died 1955 in the Amsterdam Zoo, skull and complete skeleton.

ZMA 33165 Adult male, died 2 Oct 1979 in the Amsterdam Zoo, skin and skeleton (stored separately).

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