Mar 17, 2018
Prized for their red keratin “helmets,” the helmeted hornbill has been so heavily poached it is now more endangered than elephants.
“Further exacerbating the problem, the species only breeds once a year and hatches just one chick at a time. Since the females rely on the males for food, the poaching of the male is also a death sentence for the female and her chick. Although wealthy buyers in China drive the black market demand today, native people in Borneo have carved hornbill casques into intricate ornamental pieces for more than 2,000 years.”
