馬來西西亜的其中一種犀鳥 - 盔犀鳥。它的休形很大 (70-120厘米)，雄鸟体重3.1千克，雌鸟体重2.6-2.8千克。头骨像头盔，套在突出的喙上面 , 叫聲像人的笑声。由于被人类捕杀，数量跌得最快。其原因是，一般的鸟类头骨皆为中空，无法雕刻，而盔犀鸟的头胄部分为实心，外红内黄，质地细腻，易于雕刻，堪比象牙制成工艺品，人称鹤顶红。地下贸易屡禁不绝，盔犀鸟作为濒危物种，生存面临极大压力。犀鸟是华盛顿公约(CITES)一级保护物种，极其濒危。
The helmeted hornbill (Rhinoplax vigil) is a very large bird in the hornbill family. It is found on the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo, Thailand and Myanmar. The casque (helmetlike structure on the head) accounts for some 11% of its 3 kg weight. Unlike any other hornbill, the casque is almost solid, and is used in head-to-head combat among males. It is a belief among the Punan Bah that a large helmeted hornbill guards the river between life and death.
After ongoing hunting pressure and habitat loss, the helmeted hornbill was uplisted from near threatened to critically endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2015. It is listed in Appendix I of CITES. According to the conservation group TRAFFIC, 2,170 casques were confiscated in just three years in China and Indonesia alone. There are fewer than 100 birds remaining in Thai forests. At least 546 hornbill parts, mostly casques of helmeted hornbills, have been posted for sale on Thai Facebook in the past five years. Traders will pay villagers 5,000-6,000 baht (US$165-200) for a hornbill head. Prices double or triple in cities and increase exponentially when sold overseas.
29 июл 2020
