• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic note
Pauxi unicornis and P. koepckeae (del Hoyo and Collar 2014) were previously lumped as P. unicornis following Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993).

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
A2bcd+3cd+4bcd	A2bcd+3cd+4bcd; C2a(ii)	A2bcd+3cd+4bcd; B1ab(i,ii,iii,iv,v); C2a(ii)

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2016	Critically Endangered	A2bcd+3cd+4bcd
2015	Critically Endangered	A2bcd+3cd+4bcd
2014	Critically Endangered	A2bcd+3cd+4bcd
2012	Not Recognised
2008	Not Recognised
2004	Not Recognised
2000	Not Recognised
1994	Not Recognised
1988	Not Recognised

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	high
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	14,000 km2	medium
Number of locations	6-10	-
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	1000-4999 mature individuals	medium	estimated	2007
Population trend	decreasing	poor	suspected	1998-2008
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	80-100%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	80-100%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	80-100%	-	-	-
Generation length	14.5 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	2-100	-	-	-

Population justification: This species is poorly known; the total population is estimated to number 1,000-4,999 mature individuals, roughly equivalent to 1,500-7,500 individuals in total.

Trend justification: A model of forest loss in the Amazon basin since 2002 (Soares-Filho et al. 2006), combined with the species’s approximate range and data on its ecology and life history (following the methods of Bird et al. 2011), suggests that the species will lose 20-30% of suitable habitat in the Amazonian portion of its range (as defined by the model, and which accounts for 98% of its global extent of suitable habitat) over 44 years (estimate of three generations). Modelling of the change in the species's range in response to climate change (without taking other threats into account) projected a 55-85% reduction between 2014 and 2080, which is equivalent to a 41-71% reduction over three generations (del Rosario Avalos and Hernández 2015). An analysis of remote-sensed data on forest loss within the species's range from 2000-2012 found that forest was lost at a rate equivalent to 11% over three generations (Tracewski et al. 2016).
Field surveys in Carrasco National Park between 1998 and 2004 suggest that the species is extremely vulnerable to hunting. In one valley it declined from at least 20 singing territorial males in 1999 to none in 2004, while similar or even greater human encroachment/hunting pressure has taken place elsewhere within the range (R. MacLeod and R. W. Soria-Auza in litt. 2014). It therefore seems reasonable to suspect that there has been a population decline of >80% since the 1990s, and given the presumed further increase in hunting pressure as the entire population becomes within close range of human settlement, without effective protection of national parks (which does not currently exist) the species could be effectively extinct in the wild within 20-30 years (R. MacLeod in litt. 2014). The population decline is therefore placed in the band 80-100% over three generations.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Bolivia	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Bolivia	Yungas Inferiores de Amboró
Bolivia	Yungas Inferiores de Carrasco
Bolivia	Yungas Inferiores de Isiboro-Sécure / Altamachi

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	major	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Montane	major	resident
Altitude	450 - 1150 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Agro-industry farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Rapid Declines		Medium Impact: 7
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Small-holder farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Rapid Declines		Medium Impact: 7
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Intentional use (species is the target)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Whole (>90%)		Very Rapid Declines		High Impact: 9
		Stresses Species mortality
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (large scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Climate change & severe weather	Habitat shifting & alteration	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses None
Energy production & mining	Mining & quarrying	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Energy production & mining	Oil & gas drilling	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 3
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Transportation & service corridors	Roads & railroads	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Rapid Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion

Purpose	Scale
Food - human	subsistence, national

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Horned Curassow Pauxi unicornis. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/horned-curassow-pauxi-unicornis on 26/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 26/12/2024.