Crested ibises first to be released to the wild on Loess Plateau

Crested ibises from a crested ibis nature reserve in Hanzhong City rest at an artificial breeding and wild release experimental site in Yan'an City, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Oct. 10, 2023. (Shaanxi provincial forestry bureau/Handout via Xinhua)

XI'AN, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Fourty captive crested ibises are to be released into the wild on the Loess Plateau in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, the first time for the rare birds to be reintroduced into their historical habitat on the plateau, said the provincial forestry bureau on Friday.

Twenty of the rare birds are from a crested ibis nature reserve in Hanzhong City and the rest are from the Qinling panda breeding and research center. They have been sent to two separate artificial breeding and wild release experimental sites in the cities of Yan'an and Yulin, both on the Loess Plateau. They will be released to the wild after they have adapted to the local environment, said the bureau.

"We have taken these crested ibises to the north to help the species adapt to life in cold areas, and to explore reintroduction in northern areas, marking a new stage in China's work to rebuild the crested ibis population," said Liu Yinzeng, an ornithologist with the Chinese Academy of Sciences who is esteemed for his rediscovery of the crested ibis about 40 years ago.

Yan'an and Yulin were once a favored habitat of the species. The experiment of releasing crested ibises to the wild is a new attempt and breakthrough in the protection of the rare birds in its historical habitat, Liu said.

In recent years, the two cities on the Loess Plateau have continuously strengthened ecological protection and restoration, and the environment of the two cities has significantly improved, which has met the survival requirements of crested ibis in the wild, creating the basic conditions for the rare bird to return to its historical habitat.

After more than 40 years of protection, the number of crested ibis in Shaanxi Province now exceeds 7,000, and the global population has expanded to more than 9,000.

The crested ibis, with its iconic red crest and long black beak, was thought to be extinct in China until seven wild birds were spotted in Yangxian County, Shaanxi, in 1981.