Joint conservation of rare bird pays off

Japan transferred on Thursday 16 locally born Asian crested ibis to China, honoring an agreement between the two countries to advance conservation efforts to reduce the extinction risk of the avian species.

This is the first such return of the internationally protected birds in eight years.

According to Japan's Ministry of Environment, the transferred birds — nine females and seven males — were born at a conservation center on Sado Island in Niigata prefecture between 2016 and 2022, China Central Television reported.