We Won First Place in the 2024 White Elephant Awards

“This award is a great recognition of our keepers and facilities. We’ve been keeping these hornbills since 2010, and after 14 years, we finally welcomed a chick. We’re truly thrilled,” said Zoo Director Roman Horský. The award ceremony took place in May 2025 in the former chapel of the Capuchin Monastery in Fulnek.

The White Elephant competition has been held since 1994 under the Czech Zoo Association. It awards the best new enclosure or breeding success in mammals, birds, and other categories. The 2024 awards were decided by a panel of nine independent zoo experts. This year, 13 zoos from the Czech Republic and Slovakia entered, submitting 51 breeding cases and 7 new constructions.

Zoo Zlín currently keeps two pairs of thick-billed hornbills. After several failed attempts, one pair finally produced a fertile egg in 2024. Since the nest box had no camera, keepers estimated the hatching date by sound. The chick likely hatched on May 21, 2024, and left the nest 71 days later. The breeding was completely managed by the parent birds and went smoothly — a first for this species among Czech and Slovak zoos.

Native to the lowland rainforests of Central and West Africa, thick-billed hornbills are rarely kept in captivity, with only 27 zoos worldwide housing them.