A bird Japan thought it had lost is back in the sky over Noto.
Eight crested ibises were released into the wild on Sunday in Hakui city in the north-central Noto region, decades after the birds went extinct in the country. The endangered birds took off from wooden cages at a ceremony in the city, where they were last seen in the wild.
The white birds, called Toki in Japan, are native to East Asia and are admired for the orange-pink hues under their wings and bright red marks around their eyes.
Residents cheered as the birds soared into the sky when Crown Prince Akishino, his wife Kiko, and other officials cut a ribbon around the wooden cages.
The birds went extinct on the Honshu main island in the 1970s after overhunting and environmental degradation threatened their survival. The last remaining Japanese native ibis died in 2003 on Sado Island.
The species returned through breeding backed by China. In 1999, artificial breeding by a pair donated from China led to the first Japanese crested ibis chick born in captivity, according to the Environment Ministry.
Breeding and conservation efforts have since helped rebuild the population. In 2008, 10 birds raised at the Sado conservation center were released into the wild on the island, where their population has grown to about 500, according to the ministry.
The release was also seen as a good omen for the Noto region, which is still recovering from the deadly 2024 earthquake.
The eight birds released on Sunday were raised and protected at a conservation center on Sado in neighboring Niigata prefecture. Ten more birds are waiting to be released.
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