XI’AN, May 18 (Xinhua) — The crested ibis, with its iconic pink crest and lengthy black beak, was considered extinct in China till seven wild birds appeared in Yangxian County, northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, in 1981. Over the years, Chinese scientists have efficiently revived this tiny inhabitants to almost 10,000.
Zhang Junfeng, 55, a key scientist behind the achievement, recalled that in 2002, the Shaanxi provincial uncommon wildlife rescue base, the place she works, obtained 60 crested ibis raised on the discovery web site of Yangxian.
The state forestry authority transferred the uncommon birds to the rescue base on the northern foot of the Qinling Mountains close to the provincial capital of Xi’an to hold out captive breeding.
“In Yangxian, the species still faced a high risk of extinction. My task at that time was to let it reproduce as much as possible to ensure its survival,” mentioned Zhang.
Her staff arrange two breeding cages within the forest, separated by a distance of 20 meters, to mix synthetic incubation with pure breeding. They took the eggs from the dad or mum birds after about 20 to 25 days, and put them in an incubator to enhance the survival price.
When crested ibis reproduce naturally, barely one in ten chicks handle to outlive. Artificial rearing of chicks can enormously enhance the copy effectivity. A brand new-born chick weighs solely about 50 grams.
“To feed the smallest bird, we have to use a straw as thin as 2 mm in diameter. Birds of different sizes have different food formulas,” she mentioned.
The key interval for rearing crested ibis is the primary 45 days after delivery. Zhang typically takes care of greater than ten chicks a day.
Over the years, Zhang’s staff has efficiently employed reproductive applied sciences in elevating greater than 500 crested ibis and releasing greater than 140 of the birds into the wild.
In 2008, the bottom despatched 10 crested ibis to Deqing County, east China’s Zhejiang Province, the place Zhang’s staff cooperated with Zhejiang University to ascertain a brand new breeding base for crested ibis, serving to construct up the southern inhabitants of the species.
Since then, the Shaanxi provincial uncommon wildlife rescue base has supplied 100 crested ibis to help the institution of six synthetic breeding bases nationwide.
Meanwhile, Shaanxi additionally exported 14 crested ibis to Japan and the Republic of Korea, and greater than 1,000 crested ibis have been bred in these two nations.
The breeding bases have solid a concerted effort within the gradual launch of birds into the wild. From the breeding base within the Qinling Mountains, the species dubbed “Oriental gem” is anticipated to quickly reappear in additional of its historic distribution areas in East Asia.