# All About Toucans

![](https://miro.medium.com/max/1400/1*WOJSErXBtn2YQ97-43V1Mg.png)

## Quick Links

* Buy a toucan from Shell's [Toucan AMM](/getting-started/integrations/shell-native-primitives/nft-amms.md)
* Buy a toucan from secondary NFT markets: [Tofu](https://tofunft.com/collection/government-toucans/items) or [Opensea](https://opensea.io/collection/government-toucans)
* Read about [Toucan Votes](/shell-dao/toucan-votes.md)
* `Contract address:` [`0x642ffab2752df3bce97083709f36080fb1482c80`](https://arbiscan.io/token/0x642ffab2752df3bce97083709f36080fb1482c80)

## Contents

* [Introduction](#introduction)
* [What do Toucans do?](#what-do-toucans-do)
* [Toucan history](#toucan-history)

## Introduction

The [Government Toucans event](https://shellprotocol.io/posts/launching-our-government-toucan/) was a 24-hour free NFT mint for the community on April 1, 2022. On that day, 47,021 [Government Toucans](https://arbiscan.io/token/0x642ffab2752df3bce97083709f36080fb1482c80) were born.

## What do Toucans do?

The NFT drop was originally a one-time gift, but became a long-lasting symbol of Shell Protocol due to the enthusiasm of the community. The Toucan is now Shell's 'proto-governance' NFT, and is used in a 'toucameral' voting system to guide Shell's social activity.

Holders of Shell's Government Toucan NFT are [eligible to vote](/shell-dao/toucan-votes.md) on various [community polls on Snapshot](https://snapshot.org/#/shellprotocol.eth). In the past, these polls have dictated such things as [which accounts Shell's Twitter should follow](https://shellprotocol.io/posts/running-our-twitter-with-government-toucans/), to whether [Shell Points should be a factor in a future $SHELL launch distribution](https://snapshot.org/#/shellprotocol.eth/proposal/0x4a8f0fa77abd1180353ff55fd36368b7c2f294105b7620491959d8dd80892485).

As a beloved symbol of the community, having a toucan has granted several privileges to date. Toucan holders were [allocated initial quota](/user-guide/earn-rewards/get-quota.md) for participation in Shell's guarded launch. Having a toucan in your wallet would have helped you recover rarer crates during the [Bro Kwon's Booty event](/user-guide/earn-rewards/bro-kwons-booty.md). They also made holders eligible for a special [Discord](/getting-started/overview/community.md#discord) role that granted access to a secret toucan channel.

## Toucan history

Every DeFi denizen knows those two fateful words — 'Wen token?' In Discord lobbies, in AMAs, and all across Twitter the question rings out. In time it becomes constant, another piece of background noise in the bustling DeFi metropolis. But, every once in a while, a flash of new and bold innovation cuts through the chatter. It demands your attention, staying in your mind long after the moment has passed.

On November 26, 2021, such innovation was delivered in the Shell Protocol Discord server by user Joe \[Comfy Ventures]:

![](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1600/0*B6E8xTFoczefdFrl)

*Toucan.* That was the word he spoke. So alike what had come before, and yet utterly transformed. *When? When toucan?* When toucan, indeed. Our team spent many long and painstaking minutes poring over this question, and in the end the conclusion was clear. We had to devote scarce and vital resources to finding this man an answer.

On April 1, 2022, the Shell team put together a ‘token’ gift for the community. For 24 hours, anyone could visit the [Toucanomics](http://www.shellprotocol.io/toucanomics) page to mint their very own Government Toucan, a free Shell Protocol NFT. All that was needed was a wallet, and enough Arbitrum ETH to cover the network fee.

Government Toucan minting was limited to one mint per wallet, although of course they can be sold and transferred. These Toucans were the **first ever Shell Protocol NFT drop**, and the team's first ever deployment of code on the [Arbitrum network](/how-shell-works/why-arbitrum.md) — both pretty exciting milestones for the protocol and the community.

![](https://shellprotocol.io/static/img/toucangif-compressed.gif)


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