There is a popular saying in the literary play world: one red, two black, three white.
White refers to ivory products, ivory is a white hard object, in ancient times was a valuable material, is a symbol of power and status, not only carved as a plaything into the princes and nobles, but also as a sacrificial object to accompany the burial. Moreover, ivory attracted human attention earlier, and a large number of ivory was unearthed in Sanxingdui, and the Sanxingdui civilization can be traced back 3000-5000 years ago. The ivory material is warm and delicate, the color is special, and it has a long history as a high-end jewelry, and the market effect has made elephants endangered.
Black refers to rhino horn products, rhino horn is the head horn of black rhinos, the main ingredient is keratin, is an important defensive weapon of rhinos. Unlike ivory, rhino horn has always attracted human attention for its medicinal value in the early days. Rhino horns have attracted attention as carvings relatively late, but they have been chased to a more crazy extent. In the 1980s, some 2,900 black rhinos were killed in Tanzania alone, and even in protected areas today, there are still unscrupulous criminals who covet the interests of rhino horns.
The first red refers to helmeted hornbills skull products. Helmeted hornbill, many people have not heard of its name, let alone seen its appearance, but to say the word "crane top red", everyone must not be unfamiliar, but the "crane top red" here is not the poison in the TV series, but a helmet hornbill skull.
Helmeted hornbills as birds received more recent attention from humans, helmeted hornbills belly and tail feathers are white, the rest are black, neither the graceful posture of the swan, nor the gorgeous feathers of the peacock, nor the talent of the parrot voice, the reason why he attracts human attention and favor is mainly because of its skull. Helmet hornbill skull red and yellow on the inside, delicate texture, easy to carve, polished and carved, can be made into snuff bottles and other exquisite works of art, its natural form is wonderful, not ordinary ivory carving can be compared. The value of the helmeted hornbill's skull has made it famous in the literary and entertainment circles, and it has also aroused more and more people's attention.
With the pursuit of helmeted hornbill skull artworks, and the hard-to-find piece of helmeted hornbill skull, the price of helmeted hornbill skulls has skyrocketed. The mania about helmeted hornbills skulls is not only crazy, but almost perverted. In the trend of interest, a large number of helmeted hornbills have been hunted, and in the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan alone, according to estimates by local authorities, about 6,000 helmeted hornbills have been killed. In 2015, the helmeted hornbill became an endangered animal and is just one step away from extinction. Helmeted hornbills are now locally extinct, but in most countries in Southeast Asia, hunting for helmeted hornbills continues.
The helmeted hornbill became famous for its unparalleled skull and perished because of the irreplaceable skull. But the fault lies not in the unique skull that nature has bestowed upon the helmeted hornbill, but in the insatiable greed of mankind and the fearlessness of natural life.