Crested Ibis Conservation Center

China has approved the establishment of its first conservation research center on crested ibis. The center, to be jointly established by the National Forestry and Grassland Administration and the government of Shaanxi Province, will be based on Shaanxi Hanzhong Crested Ibis National Nature Reserve and specialized in scientific research, rescue, breeding and rewilding on crested ibis.

The construction of the center will start in September.As China’s first-grade state protection wild animal, crested ibis was once widely distributed in East Asia.However, since the 20th century, wild crested ibis began to extinct on the Korean Peninsula and in Japan.

In 1981, experts found seven wild crested ibis in Hanzhong. After more than 40 years of conservation and breeding efforts, the global population of crested ibis has now exceeded 10,000, with over 7,700 in China’s Shaanxi Province.