Chinese lust for ivory could kill of world's weirdest bird - the helmeted hornbill whose ivory fetched £4,000 per kilo (three times that of an elephant)
- The helmeted hornbill of the Borneo rainforest is being driven to extinction
- It is due to a surge in the black-market demand for its ivory in China
- The ivory is now worth three times more than that of elephants
- Report says the bird is the latest victim of organised wildlife crime
It is one of
the world’s strangest birds, with a huge domed bill, a 6ft wingspan and
a call that sounds like maniacal laughter as it echoes across the
Borneo rainforest.
But the helmeted hornbill is being driven towards extinction – by a surge in the black-market demand for its ivory in China.
The
bird – dubbed ‘the farmer of the rainforest’ for its vital
seed-spreading role – has become the latest victim of organised wildlife
crime, according to a report to be published this week by the
Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA).
Its ivory is now worth three times more than that of elephants, and illegal poaching is spiralling out of control.
Hornbill expert Yoki Hadiprakarsa warned: ‘If no one pays attention, this bird is going to become extinct.’
The
illegal trade is being fuelled by the desires of China’s wealthy middle
classes for carved ivory items. With ‘white’ elephant ivory and rhino
horn becoming more scarce, the EIA found traffickers were dealing
instead in ‘red’ ivory from a hornbill casque.
This now sells for as much as £4,000 a kilo – three times the price of elephant ivory.
There
are no reliable estimates of the impact of poaching on populations
across the hornbills’ historic range of Borneo, Sumatra and the
Malaysian peninsula, but in one region alone, the Kalimantan, an
estimated 6,000 birds are killed every year.
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