Chinese trader Wang Dayuan’s 1349 travelogue, the Dao Yi Zhi Lue, described the hornbill casque as one of the goods traded out of Danmaxi (Temasek) for the Chinese market in exchange for fine ceramics and stoneware. The casques (growths on the upper part of the bill) were most probably traded as ornamental material to be carved as ‘ivory’. Henry Ridley, the Botanic Garden’s first Director, 1888 – 1911), recorded finding Hornbills in Singapore’s forests in 1898. The birds continued to be traded through Singapore even during our colonial period.

Reproduction based on the collection of National Museum of Singapore.