Species profile
Struthio camelus
Common ostrich
LC · Least Concern — Least Concern — low risk, widespread and abundant
About this species
Common ostrich (Struthio camelus) is part of the curated SpeciesWatch catalogue and is classified as Least Concern. An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain — the largest eye of any land animal — giving it razor-sharp vision across the savanna. Its recorded population direction is decreasing, so the category needs to be read alongside continuing losses of individuals or local populations.
Habitat, behaviour and ecological role
This profile associates the species with terrestrial, savanna, desert. These labels summarise environments used during different stages of its life rather than drawing an exact range boundary. Ostriches can sprint at 70 km/h and deliver a kick strong enough to kill a lion; their two-toed feet are unique among birds. Its anatomy and behaviour are responses to those environments, while movement can connect distant places requiring different forms of management.
Why this species is at risk
Contrary to myth, ostriches do not bury their heads in the sand — they lie low, and their pale heads then look like a mound from a distance. The catalogue records 2 principal pressures for this profile: Hunting, Habitat loss. They should not be treated as isolated causes. Habitat change, exploitation, pollution, disease and climate stress can reinforce one another, while the importance of each pressure varies between regions and through time.
Conservation outlook
Protecting and reconnecting habitat is a priority, together with infrastructure planning that keeps feeding, breeding or migration routes functional. Direct protection needs to combine enforcement with conflict prevention, demand reduction and local benefits that make coexistence viable. Actions need long-term monitoring and revision as evidence changes; a positive intervention in one place does not by itself represent recovery across the species.
Editorial review: 2026-08-21
Threat factors
Known occurrences
Dots are georeferenced occurrence records from OBIS (marine) and GBIF (global), not individual animals and not a complete range map. Up to 500 recent API results are cached; the profile renders at most 500 points.
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Listen to this species
Northern Tuli Game Reserve · 0:42 · https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/