Hi all! Just a quick warning, this topic deals with animal trafficking statistics and non-graphic imagery.

It has only recently come to my attention that a fresh conservation issue has arisen with many species of Hornbill. Particularly the Helmeted Hornbill, an already critically endangered species is being poached for it's beak, in order to supply hand carved trinkets to Chinese markets. (why is it always CHINA!? WHY!)



This beautiful bird above has an unknown population base, and is globally protected, yet it's 'red ivory', AKA: its beak, is worth 3-5 TIMES that of elephant ivory of the same size on the black market.

A single head selling for nearly $4,000 USD, and in the past 7 years, smuggled trinkets, bills, and skulls have been seized reportedly sourced from 2,722 individual Helmeted Hornbills. And that's just what the involved governments can catch before their ivory reaches China. The damage even extending to the locals, whom are reportedly paid $20 USD an ounce for the animal's decapitated heads.




The bird is the only targeted Hornbill as it is unique among similarly casqued hornbills. Unlike the Black and White Casqued and the rest of it's cousins, the Helmeted Hornbills bill is solid keratin. Due in part to the males' mid-air displays of fermented fruit-fueled combat.

This unfortunately means that, like rhino horn, their casques are excellent, and beautiful carving material.

Though the tradition of carving small numbers of the species' casques for gifts to foreign dignitaries died out in the seventies. With China's recent reemergence of wealth, the gifts their emperors once enjoyed have once again become a highly sought after status symbol.

As such, these birds are becoming harder and harder to find in the wild, National Geographic even stated that they had problems tracking down enough birds to film for a documentary on the species.

For a species that was only added to the endangered species list in 2015, this is a very bad sign.



Therefore, I'm certain a fair few of us would love to see this unique species added to the site's conservation efforts. Maybe even hosting a donation event in exchange for exclusive Helmeted Hornbill decor could be beneficial to the right conservancy cause?

The mass trafficking of these birds is still in its infancy. Perhaps if we lend our aid early enough, we might help raise awareness, and make a difference in the remaining population.