Yokyok “Yoki” Hadiprakarsa still recalls how difficult it was to persuade conservationists, donor organizations and the government to protect the rangkong gading (helmeted hornbill; Rhinoplax vigil).
By
Ichwan Susanto
·5 minutes read
KOMPAS/ICHWAN SUSANTO
Yokyok "Yoki" Hadiprakarsa
Yokyok “Yoki” Hadiprakarsa still recalls how difficult it was to persuade conservationists, donor organizations and the government to protect the rangkong gading (helmeted hornbill; Rhinoplax vigil). His persistence in giving voice to the fate of the large bird has paid off, and he is pleased that a number of parties in Indonesia and the international community are now working to save the endangered bird.
Yokyok “Yoki” Hadiprakarsa is the only living dictionary on hornbills, especially helmeted hornbills. This is unsurprising, as Yoki has almost two decades of experience in hornbill research. He began researching hornbills – also called enggang – at the Way Canguk Research Station in South Bukit Barisan National Park for his graduate thesis, under a scholarship from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).
It was then that he met the first leaders of the WCS Indonesia Program, wife and husband Margaret F. Kinnaird and Timothy O\'Brien, who later became Yoki’s mentors and inspired him to learn more about hornbills. In 2000, Yoki presented his research at the 3rd International Hornbills Conference (IHC) in Bangkok, Thailand. The occasion opened the door to Yoki to connect with international researchers and field monitors.
In 2004, he monitored hornbills across South Sumatra, and the following year, he was appointed co-chair of the Asian Hornbill Network during the 4th International Hornbill Conference (IHC) in Johannesburg, South Africa. In 2006, his South Sumatra study led him to enroll in a graduate program at the University of Georgia’s Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources in the United States.
His international network continued to expand, and Yoki is currently on the Hornbill Specialist Group (HSG) steering committee of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Species Survival Commission, and is also a research coordinator of the HSG’s Helmeted Hornbill Working Group.
Disturbed
Indonesia has 13 hornbill species, of which the helmeted hornbill was declared endangered on the IUCN Red List in 2015. Yoki understood all too well how the helmeted hornbill might go extinct. In November 2012, when he was a consultant at a forestry company in Ketapang, West Kalimantan, he was often shown the dried, preserved heads of the helmeted hornbill. The person who showed it to him said that "the thing" was in high demand. Yoki was disturbed by the encounter, and grew determined to advocate more intensively on saving the rare bird.
Concerned by the illegal trade of the helmeted hornbill, he launched an investigation with support from the Chester Zoo Conservation Fund in London. His investigation discovered at least 6,000 helmeted hornbills that had been killed in West Kalimantan in 2013. In 2012-2016, Indonesia seized 1,294 helmeted hornbills from a wildlife smuggling operation. This year, authorities at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport seized 72 helmeted hornbill casques that were to be smuggled to Hong Kong (Kompas, 19 July 2019).
Yoki\'s research found that the trade in helmeted hornbill casques has a long history that dates back to the 14th century Ming Dynasty in China. He discovered several antique items made from the casque of the helmeted hornbill that were being sold on international auction sites.
All hornbills have a casque at the top of their skulls, they are usually hollow and only the helmeted hornbill has a casque that is nearly solid. The casque, which has been dubbed “red ivory” for its unique color, is made of keratin like rhino horn, elephant ivory and human fingernails and toenails. The heads of helmeted hornbills are usually sold intact, or are handcrafted into beads, seals, pendants and other ornamental objects.
Aside from poaching and land conversions from forests into plantations and human settlements, the hornbill’s natural behavior also pose a threat to their survival. The bird, called julang in some areas, has a slow breeding rate. It reaches maturity at 5 years and is capable of producing one chick every 6 months.
Yoki initially found it difficult to obtain funding for conserving the hornbill, which was not a "celebrity" species like the elephant, orangutan, tiger or rhino. "My strategy was to raise its profile first," said Yoki, who has been interested in nature since he was a teenager.
Today, he is happy because the fate of the helmeted hornbill has gained notice in Indonesia and the international community. At the IUCN Congress in September 2016, all members agreed on strengthening global efforts to save the helmeted hornbill. That same month, the 18th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES CoP18) accepted a decision and resolution to reduce trade in the helmeted hornbill.
In coordination with the Environment and Forestry Ministry, Yoki drafted the 2018-2028 Hornbill Conservation Action Plan Strategy, which has been adopted globally as the 2018-2078 Global Hornbill Conservation Action Plan.
Education: Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, United States, 2006-2008; Biology degree, Math and Science Faculty, Pakuan University, Bogor, 1994-2000
Occupation: Member, Hornbill Specialist Group (HSG) steering committee, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Species Survival Commission (SSC), 2018-present; Research coordinator (pro bono), the IUCN SSC HSG Helmeted Hornbill Working Group, 2017-present
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