The crested ibis, known as the "Jewel of the Orient", is an auspicious bird that is extremely demanding on its living environment and was once endangered. In 1981, Liu Yinzeng of the Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences discovered the world's only seven remaining wild crested ibises in Yaojiagou, Yang County, Shaanxi Province.
More than 40 years later, how is this tiny population of crested ibises living today?
Critically endangered
One day in May 2021, a local photographer in Yangxian County accidentally recorded a cruel scene.
Photography
A bird of prey is entrenched in the nest of the crested ibis, the eyes are full of hostility, two crested ibises kiss birds around the nest and keep circling and chirping, and after a few minutes the birds of prey flew away, and from the camera, there is a small crested ibis with blood in the nest curled up, which is heart-wrenching.
After the staff confirmed that it was the eagle eagle, a national second-class wild protected animal, that attacked the crested ibis' young birds, which is a cruel competition under the laws of nature. Natural selection, survival of the fittest, crested ibises and eagle eagles are all national key protected species, and they are the relationship between predators and predators in the ecological chain.
For the crested ibis, which is already weak in survivability, the threat of natural enemies is one of the reasons why it was on the verge of extinction.
The crested ibis was once widely distributed in East Asia. With the deterioration of the environment, the threat of natural enemies and other factors, the crested ibises have been declared extinct by many countries and regions in the world, but China has not given up hope.
The first crested ibises to be found
Since the first batch of crested ibises were discovered, Yangxian County has closed the mountains and cultivated forests in the areas where crested ibises are active, expanding the area of natural wetlands and winter paddy fields. Since then, China has embarked on a long process of conservation of the crested ibis, a critically endangered species.
Shaanxi Hanzhong crested ibises national level
Nature Reserve Authority
Professor-level senior engineer Lu Baozhong
Yangxian is a very rare crested ibis home, because the crested ibises are very strict about the choice of environment, to make nests in large trees, to forage in paddy fields, rivers and wetlands.
Yangxian is located in a warm and humid climate zone, and there are more than 80 reservoirs in the north and south of the Han River, and then more than 10,000 hectares of rice fields. In such an environment, the crested ibis can choose for a long time and can survive and reproduce in this stable way.
Since 1990, the researchers of Shaanxi Crested Ibis Rescue and Breeding Center have overcome a number of problems in breeding management and artificial breeding, and formed a mature crested ibis breeding and breeding technology. Thanks to 40 years of hard work, the crested ibis population has grown, which makes conservation workers feel happy and happy.
But gradually a new concern emerged, as the number of crested ibises in Yangxian County increased, and the environmental carrying capacity of this area was relatively saturated.
In addition to the accidental injuries of the crested ibises rescued from the wild, some crested ibises were actually unable to find food, hunger and weakness, which temporarily put crested ibises protection workers into a new predicament.
Man-bird symbiosis
In Huayang Town, Yang County, a special project " Part of the Ibis" promotes the symbiotic relationship between crested ibises and people.
Large areas of organic rice fields are planted here for crested ibises to feed, balancing farmers' returns with the improvement of the crested ibis's ecological environment.
Local residents
White break-in
Why is it called "one point of the ibis field", it is every acre of land, set aside one point for the crested ibises as a ration field, that is, for the crested ibises to forage and move inside, which has great improvements to our environment and soil, and another is to protect the crested ibises, and people and crested ibises have jointly created a beautiful environment.
Shaanxi Hanzhong crested ibises national level
Nature Reserve Authority
Professor-level senior engineer Lu Baozhong
It can be said that this is not only for a region, not only to protect a species, but more importantly, to promote the development of this green organic industry. The win-win role of protecting crested ibises and protecting ecology is recognized.
In order to give the crested ibises a healthy environment conducive to reproduction, people here have abandoned the agricultural model of high-speed development and large-scale and high yield, using traditional farming methods to apply organic fertilizer in the field and refuse to use pesticides.
Decades later, the people of Yangxian Were pleasantly surprised to find that they not only owned the world's rarest bird crested ibis, but also had enviable fertile organic farmland.
In Yang County, the crested ibises have long had a far-reaching influence on the life and production of local people, and they are inseparable from the local folk culture.
Researcher, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Crested ibises found people Liu Yinzeng
I hope that we will protect the crested ibis, starting with our natural protection, and also the rescue of species, to the cultural level. Let the crested ibis truly return to the people, let the people protect it, must integrate the culture after this species can be protected for a long time.
The crested ibis has been protected for more than 40 years, and the ecological environment has gradually been restored. The number of wild crested ibises has also grown from 7 to more than 7,000, getting rid of the critically endangered state of the crested ibis population.
Mountains, fields, rivers, villages, cities, the figure of the crested ibises can be seen everywhere. Humans have protected an ecological paradise for the crested ibis, and the crested ibis is also giving back to people's life and production.
Experts believe that the best way to protect crested ibises is to return them to nature and recreate the historical distribution of the population. In 2007, in order to prevent the excessive concentration of the crested ibis, China decided to ex situ conservation of the crested ibis.
With Yangxian as the center, the crested ibises were released to raise individuals in various places, and the rewilding and release bases of crested ibises were established in Ningshan, Shaanxi, Qianyang, Shaanxi, and Deqing, Zhejiang. How did the crested ibises move to the new environment develop? Can the crested ibis population's past glory be successfully restored?
Record the big time the latest broadcast time
Phoenix TV Chinese 16:30
August 14-15 The Crested Ibis
Two episodes in a row, so watch it
Editor: Wang Dingyao