Hermit ibis

The hermit ibis is neither a forest bird nor a raven, but an ibis that breeds in rocky niches and forages for insects and field mice in meadows and open areas. During the breeding season, the pairs vigorously defend their nest site and nesting material with beak thrusts. The beak duels may look fierce, but they finish without injury because the long curved beak is neither sharp nor hard. Traces of the hermit ibis as a breeding bird in the Alps were lost in the 16th century. The reason for their extinction was direct persecution – the young birds were considered a delicacy. An additional cause was presumably the onset of a cold spell. Only two widely separated refuges in North Africa (Morocco, Algeria) and Asia Minor (Turkey, Iraq, Syria) remained, but these colonies suffered dramatic declines due to pesticide use and hunting. The hermit ibis has been saved from its final disappearance in protected areas and by breeding in zoos. The behaviour of the hermit ibis has been intensively researched at the Alpenzoo, and the European conservation breeding programme has been coordinated from Innsbruck since 1988. The Alpenzoo supports the protection of the last wild hermit ibises and research projects on reintroduction methods.