16 nationally protected crested ibises born in NW China this year

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Eight crested ibis couples have given birth to 16 chicks in Tongchuan City, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, this year.

As the weather becomes warmer, people from the local wild animal protection sector have continuously patrolled and monitored the 16 newborn birds. To keep track of the chicks, they have numbered each of them.

Crested ibises forage in Shaanxi Province, NW China. /VCG Photo

"With the advent of the breeding season, the local weather can change drastically. So we work harder to patrol and monitor the birds, so as to make sure the newborns live through the end of the breeding season in Tongchuan," said Wang Huaqiang, director of Tongchuan's Yaozhou District Wild Animal Protection and Management Station.

Soaring crested ibis. /VCG Photo

In 2013, Tongchuan became the first to release crested ibises back into the wild north of the Qinling Mountains. Over the past six years, 62 crested ibises have been released back into the wild. Now the released birds have produced 85 chicks and over 100 crested ibises have been observed in the wild of Tongchuan.

(Cover image via VCG)

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