It is largely restricted to lowland primary evergreen forest but often recorded in adjacent secondary areas and also in plantations (Kemp and Kirwan 2020). Occurs up to 1,500 m in elevation. Primarily feeds on fruit, the availability of which appears to drive considerable movements that may be predictable based on rainfall patterns (Rainey and Zuberbühler 2007, Kemp and Kirwan 2020). The home range during the breeding season has been estimated at 28.75 km² (Trail 2007). Nesting only seems to take place during peak fruit availability, and may not occur every year (Stauffer and Smith 2004). 
Recent rates of forest cover loss within its range have recently accelerated and have been at a rate equivalent to c. 18 % over three generations, based on the most recent five years of data (data from Global Forest Watch 2025). This is inferred to be driving a continuing decline in the extent, area and quality of the species' habitat.

This species occurs mostly in moist tropical forest from Sierra Leone and southern Guinea east to Ghana, then from southern Nigeria through the Congo Basin, including the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) and the Central African Republic to western Uganda, with an isolated population in northern Angola. In West Africa the range is becoming fragmented due to habitat loss and unsustainable hunting: there are very few recent records from Nigeria away from the Cross River National Park, in Ghana it is almost restricted to the largest protected forests of Kakum and Ankasa, and in Côte d'Ivoire all recent records are from Taï National Park. There is a breeding record from Togo at the end of the 19th Century, but apparently no records since (Cheke and Walsh 1996).

The range has contracted at the western edge in Sierra Leone and rates of forest cover loss indicate that this contraction is likely to continue (data from Global Forest Watch 2025 and GBIF.org 2025), resulting in a continuing decline in the species' extent of occurrence (EOO). The area of occupancy is also inferred to be declining, noting that it has been extirpated from a number of forest areas within the range (Dowsett-Lemaire and Dowsett 2001, Rainey and Zuberbühler 2007, Holbech et al. 2009). With both the rate of forest loss in West Africa (data from Global Forest Watch 2025) and the high hunting rate for trade and bushmeat (Jenson and Arcilla 2024, Su et al. 2025) the area of occupancy (AOO) is also declining.

Conservation Actions in-Place
This species is not currently listed on the appendices of CITES. It occurs in numerous protected areas across the range. 

Conservation Actions Needed
To address the threat to the species from trade it is necessary to investigate the destination and pathways of hornbill parts originating in West Africa and to investigate the effectiveness of law enforcement and awareness raising campaigns (Su et al. 2024). Full legal protection is necessary but may not be sufficient for highly traded hornbill species (Beastall et al. 2016). Systematic monitoring of hornbill populations is necessary to detect declines and assess the effectiveness of conservation interventions (Su et al. 2024). Authorities at all levels should support expanded awareness raising campaigns and law enforcement operations to reduce the impact of hunting on the species (Su et al. 2024). The development of an international market for body parts of this species necessitates strengthening of the regulations restricting the hunting of the species and of the enforcement of existing legislation around the use of firearms (Su et al. 2024). This species has been proposed for listing under CITES.