Crested Ibis

(Nipponia nippon)

I first learned about the Chinese scientist Dr. Yongmei Xi, and her remarkably successful efforts to save the crested ibis from extinction, from George Archibald of the International Crane Foundation (ICF). He said these birds were among his favorites, and he even sent me photographs to show me how beautiful they are. Amazingly, two weeks after my conversation with George I was able to meet with Yongmei Xi herself while I was in Shanghai in 2007—what a privilege! While we drove from one locale to the next (there was no other time), Yongmei and I talked about these special birds and her love for them.

At one time, the crested ibis was plentiful in the wetlands of Japan, China, Korea, and Siberia. By 1930, however, there were very few left: They had been relentlessly hunted, especially for their glorious feathers, but also because women believed that eating ibis would help to restore their strength after childbirth. By the end of World War II, in 1945, it was ascertained that the remaining populations had been almost exterminated throughout their range as a result of hunting, pesticide use, and habitat loss. Particularly disastrous was the draining, during the winter, of previously wet paddy fields to control the spread of snail-borne disease to humans.

It is interesting that ibis, over time, seem to have evolved a dependence on humans—they need the rice paddy habitat. They roost and breed in trees on the higher slopes, and are most at ease when there are humans living near the trees they select for nesting.

By 1978, the crested ibis was extinct in Korea. (George Archibald made a heroic effort to catch the last four—for captive breeding—in their wintering grounds in the Korean Demilitarized Zone. But his mission failed.) In 1981, the last five individuals remaining in Japan were captured and taken to a breeding center—but they did not breed.

Yongmei Xi’s passion and determination helped prevent the extinction of this beautiful bird. She had this snapshot taken so she would have a picture of a crested ibis to take with her on a long journey. (Yongmei Xi)

China Searches for the Last Ibis

Meanwhile there was growing concern for the fate of the crested ibis in China. Dr. Liu Yen-zhou, of the Institute of Zoology in Beijing, organized surveys to look for them in central China, but for the first three years the team saw no sign of the crested ibis. Then in 1981, they spotted a group of seven in the Tsinling Mountains, not far from the ancient capital Xian.

The Ministry of Forestry at once agreed to provide protection for these precious individuals—the last of their species. Farmers were paid not to apply toxic chemicals to wet rice paddies, and as a result the habitat gradually improved. At the same time, they devised some innovative techniques to give the birds as much help as possible. By wrapping the trunks of nest trees with smooth plastic materials, predation from snakes was reduced. By putting nets under the nests, weak chicks evicted by stronger siblings could be either put back and given a second chance, or—if they were very weak (sometimes a chick was evicted a second time)—cared for in captivity. These birds would subsequently become part of a captive breeding program.

Breakthrough in Captivity

As a result of all these measures, the wild population began to increase. But very slowly. Yongmei first studied the crested ibis in 1988. She told me that a pair of crested ibis in the wild has only one clutch each year; an average of two chicks survive. In captivity, however, Yongmei found that a pair can have two to three clutches from which an average of seven chicks survive. And so, in 1990, it was decided to start a breeding program, and by 2006 there were a total of four centers in China.

Yongmei, meanwhile, was becoming more and more familiar with these beautiful birds, and partly no doubt because of her empathy with them, she and her team were very successful in their breeding program. She tried to supply the captives, so far as possible, with a diet that included food items eaten in the wild—such as loach, a common small fish, which they find in the paddy fields. She told me how excited she had been when, for the first time, a pair of ibis who had been born in captivity managed to successfully raise their own chicks. Before this, the parents had sometimes destroyed their eggs or killed their chicks, and she had come to believe that this was because the enclosures were not suitable.

And so, in 2000, she constructed a large cage of green nylon on the slope of a mountain. It was surrounded by trees, and there were real trees growing inside. The breeding success in this enclosure provided the first evidence that parents could take care of their chicks in captivity if the conditions were to their liking.

While observing the captive birds, Yongmei noticed how they interacted with various wild birds who were attracted by the food. “When the wild birds land on the wire of the cage roof,” she told me, “they call out to the captives, who return their calls.” She believes that the wild birds envy the captives their plentiful supply of food—but she does not believe that the captives are satisfied with their mainly pellet diet. She thinks they long to fly up and away with the visitors when they leave.

Yongmei also told me about two of her young captive ibis, who were sent to the emperor of Japan as a gift in 1999. Understanding them so well, she felt sure that they would be lonely in their new surroundings. Their natural food—loach—and the pair’s original food container were sent with them to Japan. Twigs were provided for the pair in the breeding season. They began to lay eggs, and eventually one of the eggs hatched. It was a male. The next year another female bird was sent to Japan from China. Based on these three founder birds, a new ibis breeding program was established. In 2008, I was told, there were 107 captive crested ibis in Japan.

Back to the Wild

As of 2008, there were also about a thousand ibis in China—five hundred in the wild, and another five hundred in captivity—and there are plans to introduce some of the captives into the wild. A major effort is under way to restore their habitat in the Hanzhong Basin. The use of agricultural pesticides is strictly controlled, and a series of handmade reservoirs linked to a network of rivers will improve things for the birds, and for the rice farmers. Also, some grassland will be flooded. There is an education program in which people in ninety-one villages in the area are given information about the crested ibis and its habits.

Perhaps, one day, I shall be able to see this glorious bird in the wild. I am so grateful to George for sending me a beautiful photograph of a crested ibis in flight, and most of all for introducing me to Yongmei so that I could hear the remarkable story I have shared here from her own lips.