Reporter’s Diary: Protecting crested ibis in central China

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According to folklore, the ibis is the last bird seen before a typhoon strikes and the first to be seen afterward. It used to be Japan's national bird. Well, this graceful creature came dangerously close to extinction years ago. Now only 2,000 of them are alive globally, nearly all of them raised in captivity.

I visited the central Chinese city of Xinyang, which is home to some 700 crested ibises, to find out more about these endangered birds. And it is here where Huang Zhixue spent 11 years working to reproduce the endangered species.

I didn't know too much about crested ibises, so I thought it could be an opportunity for me to learn about these birds threatened with extinction.

A crested ibis. /CGTN Photo

The bird-breeding base was not as big as I expected. Tucked away in the mountains, it was an ideal place for Huang's work for sure.

We were lucky to see Huang feed these birds. Most visitors are not allowed to get close to the crested ibises, as they are easy to scare. The staff provided me with camouflaged clothing so that I could “blend in” – and it worked out.

The birds – perching high up on the beam – inspected me as I walked into the cage. With long beaks of about 20 centimeters, crested ibises are quite strange-looking to me.

To start with, Huang cleaned out the groove and filled it with live loaches, probably unaware of what awaited them.

CGTN reporter observes the crested ibis. /CGTN Photo‍

Huang and I had to leave the birds with these loaches in the end as they never came down while we hung around. Maybe, we and our camera made the birds feel tensed up somehow.

The next stop was a “training center” for these birds, where 20 adults are selected each year to be trained before they are released into the wild. They mainly train in scavenging, flying and defending – very much like a college specifically established for them.

The birds raised by Huang and his team are sort of like their kids. Huang goes out to check up on his “semi-wild” birds regularly.

“The survival rate is about 60 percent, which is quite high when it comes to setting these birds free in a foreign environment. This indicates the environment here is quite up to standard,” said Huang.

We drove to one of the places where these birds are often spotted. Unfortunately, we didn't see any of them on that particular spot.

Well, on our way back I saw some of them in the swamps, scavenging for food quietly. It was quite a sight seeing those white birds coming back to Nature.