The popularity of the Helmeted Hornbill (Rhinoplax vigil) in the animal kingdom has its own tale. Morphologically, this ancient bird has a large helmet-like casque which makes it a prima donna for hunters. He also has a large body size wrapped in black dominant fur. This body size is offset by a tail length that exceeds other types of hornbills.
Their large, yellow-accented red casques attract the attention of hunters. These heavy casques are often used for strength competition when fighting for a nest. Helmeted hornbills are fashionably attractive, especially when they fly above Southeast Asian tropical forests, flapping their wings like waving the air in the sky. And not to be forgotten, the long tails add to the attractiveness.
There’s a story of Dayak People about a Helmeted Hornbill. Once upon a time, there was a man who hated his mother-in-law so much that he demolished her house using an axe while she was still inside. Such cruel behaviour invited the wrath of God and the man was punished by being transformed to a Helmeted Hornbill, which sounds like an axe and laughs like a human. Despite the moral of the story, the modern Dayak communities regard helmeted hornbills as the symbols of bravery, protection and intermediary between them and their ancestors.
The bird’s signature calls could be heard echoing through the jungle. If folklore associated the sound With laughter and axes, the world of ornithology has another story to tell: the loud calls were meant to attract their partner’s attention.
Helmeted Hornbills are known to be very loyal to their partners and stay together until the end of their lives. They build their nest chamber on a large tree. The selection of this nest is not without reason. Helmeted Hornbills are only able to incubate one chick in a breeding season and raise it in the nest. The nest placement will keep predators away.
Both share an equally important role. The male is tasked with foraging for fruit in the forest, while the female guards their eggs or chick from predators. Not an easy task, of course. Thus, in addition to slow breeding, this bird species also faces serious challenges.
The journey of the males in the forest in search of figs, their favorite food, threatened by hunters lurking behind the thickets. Their lives can be lost by a shot of hunters who are targeting their casques, which is valuable for black markets.
The demand for carved casques is high in China, making the presence of helmeted hornbills in the wild more threatened. If the male is hunted to death, the female and her chicks are in another danger of starvation. The extinction is inevitable for this species.
Another threat that continues to terrorize is massive deforestation of tropical forests which causes the loss of large trees where the ivory hornbill nests. Unsustainable land clearing and conversion is of course a big scourge for them. Not only loss of habitat, ecosystems damaged by deforestation will certainly eliminate their food sources.
The Nature Conservation Agency (IUCN) currently lists the helmeted hornbill in the Critically Endangered/CR) category, one step closer to extinction. Meanwhile the population trend continues to decline and threats continue to lurk. If this continues to happen, it is not impossible that this ‘forest farmer’ species will disappear from our tropical forests, which means also a loss for humans. (ARI)
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