Japan Releases 8 Crested Ibises Into The Wild In Hakui, Noto Region

Eight crested ibises were released into the wild on Sunday in Hakui city in the Noto region, decades after the birds went extinct in Japan.

“Eight crested ibises released in Japan decades after extinction Eight crested ibises were released into the wild in a north-central Japanese town, decades after the birds went extinct in the country”

ABC News

The endangered birds took off from each of their wooden cages at a ceremony where Crown Prince Akishino, his wife Kiko, and other officials cut a ribbon around the cages.

ABC News

The birds, called toki in Japan, were raised at a conservation center on Sado Island in the neighboring prefecture of Niigata as part of a captive-breeding program.

The Environment Ministry said the last remaining Japanese native ibis died in 2003 on Sado Island, and that the birds went extinct on the Honshu main island in the 1970s, threatened by overhunting and environmental degradation.

The release followed a captive-breeding effort that began after China donated a pair of ibises in 1999, which led to the first Japanese crested ibis chick born in captivity, according to the Environment Ministry.

The comeback is tied to China’s support for breeding, with the Environment Ministry saying that in 1999 artificial breeding by a pair donated from China successfully led to the first Japanese crested ibis chick born in captivity.

The birds have been raised and protected at a conservation center on Sado in Niigata, and the reports say ten more birds are waiting to be released.

Associated Press

The Environment Ministry said the breeding and conservation efforts helped the recovery of the birds’ population to around 500.

The release ceremony in Hakui was also framed as a good omen for the Noto region, which is still recovering from the deadly 2024 earthquake.

In the same reports, residents cheered when the birds soared into the sky the moment Crown Prince Akishino, his wife Kiko and other officials cut a ribbon around the cages.

Beyond the Hakui release, the science coverage describes biodiversity preservation as a mix of in situ and ex situ work for endangered species.

“TOKYO (AP) — Eight crested ibises were released into the wild in a north-central Japanese town, decades after the birds went extinct in the country”

guardonline

The article says the conservation project for the Japanese crested ibis or toki (Nipponia nippon) consisted of habitat restoration on Sado Island in Niigata Prefecture and a major effort led by the Ministry of the Environment to breed the birds in captivity with individuals donated by the Chinese government.

It also describes a parallel approach to preserve cells and gene samples, with Ōnuma Manabu working at the National Institute for Environmental Studies in Tsukuba City, Ibaraki Prefecture.

The institute preserves specimens in environmental sample time capsules, where the temperature is cooled to below 150-160 degrees Celsius with liquid nitrogen and contact with the external environment is kept to a minimum.

The technology is described as allowing samples to be preserved for fifty to one hundred years, supporting physiological research and helping scientists study how viruses spread and develop new drugs.