All About Animals

The species is heavily targeted by hunters and illegally traded. The species has a solid horn or casque on the upper side of its beak, which is highly prized. China is the biggest consumer of the casques, which are often carved for decorations or used in traditional medicine. Currently, the trade in this species is centered on Indonesia, but will likely move to Malaysia once the supply of birds becomes limiting in Indonesia. Between March 2012 and August 2014, 1,117 heads/casques were seized in Indonesia during enforcement actions, and in the same period 1,053 heads/casques were confiscated in China. It has also been recorded in trade in Laos. Large numbers of hunters have been observed in the forests of Sumatra searching for this species, and in June 2015 a group of around 30 hunters was broken up in northern Sumatra.
The trade network is thought to be largely managed by organised crime. This means that trade pressure is likely to continue, eventually reaching every part of the species's range, and will be very difficult to control. It is thought that as many as 500 birds were being killed every month in 2013, resulting in an annual loss of 6,000 individuals. There is no information to suggest that such levels of exploitation should be any different in other Indonesian provinces; indeed trade in hundreds of birds per month from Sumatra has been reported within the last year. Owing to the species's breeding behaviour, hunting is likely to have a particularly severe impact: Breeding involves the female being incarcerated for c.160 days, while the male provisions the female and nestling in the nest. Although the female will break out of the nest should the male stop providing food, she is likely to be in heavy moult and her ability to survive will be seriously compromised. Thus, the killing of the male could lead to the subsequent death of both the chick and the female. In addition to hunting the species for its casque, it is also targeted for its feathers. Although this trade is small, it exerts an additional pressure, which is also likely to contribute to population declines.
An analysis of remote sensing data on forest loss has estimated that the total area of forest within the species's range has decreased from c.643,000 km2 in 2000 to c.565,000 km2 in 2012, a loss of c.12% . Assuming that the rate of forest loss is constant, this represents a loss of c.25% of forest habitat within the species's range across three generation lengths (26.1 years). Rates of forest loss in the Sundaic lowlands have been extremely rapid, owing partly to the escalation of illegal logging and land conversion, with deliberate targeting of all remaining stands of valuable timber including those inside protected areas. Perhaps a crucial additive factor is that logging has created access to a much greater percentage of the species's range, enabling hunters access to virtually the entire population. The species is generally confined to lowland and lower-slope forest up to an elevation of 750 m, which is targeted for conversion to oil palm and logging for timber. The species has specific nesting requirements, using the largest trees and apparently requiring trees with nest holes topped with a perch for the male to use while provisioning the female. Logging is therefore likely to significantly reduce available nest sites. As a fig-specialist, it is also likely to be strongly affected by loss of fig trees due to logging. Forest fires have also had a damaging effect and are exacerbated by fragmentation.