Environment Ministry To Look For More Areas To Reintroduce Endangered Birds
Japan's environment ministry plans to seek more locations to reintroduce an endangered bird species, the crested ibis, into the wild. The bird is designated as a special natural monument of Japan.
Crested ibises once lived widely in Japan, but became extinct in the country after being hunted for their feathers. A program to breed and reintroduce crested ibises into the wild is underway at a conservation center on the island of Sado, Niigata Prefecture in central Japan. The program began with birds offered by China.
As of last December, 478 crested ibises lived in the wild in Sado City. Some have been seen flying over Japan's main island of Honshu.
The ministry will invite municipalities across the country to be candidate locations for releasing the birds into the wild. It plans to select about three locations with more than 15,000 hectares of rice fields and forests, where crested ibises once lived.
The ministry also plans to select several areas for creating environments in which crested ibises from other areas could live, although they won't be released there. The areas would prepare good environments for making nests.
The ministry will accept applications until the end of June, and release the results in early August. Ishikawa Prefecture and another municipality have expressed intent to apply.
Environment Minister Yamaguchi Tsuyoshi said he hopes for many applications, so that crested ibises can again be seen in skies over Japan.