Sino Japanese cooperation to save Crested Ibis

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http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2007/02/crested_ibis.html

Prime Ministers of China and Japan united in efforts to conserve Endangered

Ibis

 

02-02-2007

 

Prime Ministers of China and Japan have met and discussed the conservation

of one of Asia's flagship birds, Crested Ibis *Nipponia Nippon.* The move

has been deemed a crucial step forward in the conservation of one of the

world's most threatened species.

 

This important move recognizes that working together is the best way forward

for the conservation of the ibis, a species that in the 1980s was considered

on the brink of extinction.

 

The two Prime Ministers met at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations

(ASEAN)* *conference in the Philippines.

 

The step represents years of hard work by a number of specialists,

scientists, NGOs and by the two governments involved, both of which have

been working toward the re-establishment of wild populations of ibis.

Conservationists

have highlighted that continued success will be dependent on drawing

effectively on the wider expertise of all involved.

 

" We are very much hoping this beautiful bird will fly freely in the sky of

China and Japan as a symbol of the friendship between the two countries in

future " —Noritaka Ichida, Director, BirdLife International Asia Division.

 

In 1981 the last five Crested Ibis individuals in Japan were taken into

captivity, making the species extinct in the wild in Japan. However in May

of the same year, seven wild ibis were rediscovered in central China. By

June 2002 this wild population had maintained a steady increase, partly

through efforts to protect nest sites and feeding habitats. Current

estimates suggest that there are more than 500 wild individuals in China.

 

Captive breeding remains one of the most important priorities for China and

Japan, both of which have had notable recent successes. The two nations are

now working toward the reintroduction of these populations back into the

wild, with China donating a number of ibis to strengthen the genetic stock

of the captive population in Japan, improving their resistance to disease

and other threats associated with inbreeding.

 

News of the meeting has been applauded by conservationists at BirdLife

International:

 

" We are very much hoping this beautiful bird will fly freely in the sky of

China and Japan as a symbol of the friendship between the two countries in

future. " said Noritaka Ichida, Director, BirdLife International Asia

Division.