What is the first-class protected bird in China, known as the "Oriental Pearl"?

Expensive Oriental Gem: crested ibis Yong Jin @ 2007- 12-05 crested ibis is a first-class protected animal in China and the most precious species in the world, and is known as the "Oriental Gem". It is a medium-sized wading bird, its bare cheeks are vermilion, its black mouth is slender and bent downward, and its back neck is covered with a willow-like feather crown composed of dozens of thick feathers. A feather is as white as snow, but the underside of two wings and a part of round tail feathers shine scarlet. Beautiful and elegant figure, dignified and generous movements, very beautiful and moving. Because of its elegant temperament, crested ibis is called "beautiful bird". Besides, it has dozens of nice names, such as fairy bird and flamingo.

First, "Oriental Gem" is on the verge of extinction.

Crested ibis is an endemic bird in East Asia. Historically, crested ibis is not only common in the eastern and northern parts of China, but also in the Far East of the former Soviet Union, Korea and Japan. However, since 1950s, great changes have taken place in the ecological environment. A large number of nesting trees of crested ibis were cut down, and the collected water was polluted by pesticides. The change of farming system has turned winter rice fields into winter dry fields. In addition, population explosion and excessive hunting forced them to live in hilly paddy fields, rivers, beaches, swamps and mountain streams, but gradually moved to higher altitude areas, and their numbers decreased sharply. The populations of the former Soviet Union and North Korea have disappeared one after another. The last time North Koreans saw Zhu was in Panmunjom 1978, while in the former Soviet Union it was in Hassan 1963.

1980,65438+February to 198 1 65438+1October, in order to protect the last six crested ibis found in the world at that time from extinction, the Japanese government took emergency protection measures and carefully captured six crested ibis that survived in the wild. Although we don't know how Japanese zoologists and breeders take good care of them, I believe these six crested ibis must have enjoyed the most luxurious material life of their compatriots for 60 million years. However, the imprisoned life has made them lose their reproductive ability, and the population has been submerged in the ocean of human love, and they can no longer lay eggs!

Second, seek and save.

On June 65438+1October 10, 2003, a crested ibis named Akin, which was raised by the crested ibis rescue center in Sadoshima, Japan, died unfortunately, and the last wild crested ibis in Japan was also declared extinct.

The eyes of the whole world turned to China, which was the last territory where Zhu existed. However, since the 1960s, people have never seen Zhu again.

In September, 1978, the Environmental Protection Group of the State Council, China and the Ministry of Forestry entrusted the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences to search for crested ibis.

Three years have passed, from Mohe in the northeast to Xinjiang in the northwest, from the coast of the East China Sea to the ends of the earth in Hainan, from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to the Qinling Mountains. The investigation team took photos of Zhu, traveled all over the country 14 provinces and cities, and measured 50,000 kilometers of roads with their feet. No Zhu was found! Still no Zhu! The information sent back by the tired search teams is disappointing.

The Zhu investigation team of China Academy of Sciences announced the results of the investigation at a meeting, and unfortunately announced that Zhu was extinct!

At the moment, Liu Yinzeng, a bird expert who participated in the investigation by the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, is unwilling. He doesn't believe that crested ibis will be extinct in China. He thinks Zhu Xi is sending him a message somewhere, which should be Qinling Mountain. He put forward his ideas at the meeting and asked for more time. He will go to Qinling for reexamination.

198 1 May, Liu Yinzeng returned to Qinling Mountains. It was an extraordinary morning, and he trudged in the dense forest of Chongshan as usual. Suddenly, a bird expert's unique intuition made Liu Yinzeng's heart beat violently. On a Cyclobalanopsis tree in Yangxian County, Hanzhong, Shaanxi Province, Zhu's beautiful image caught his eye! He couldn't believe it was true and rubbed his eyes hard-this time it was true, with a long, thin mouth, a bright red head, a gray body and two yellow eyes flashing in the sun.

Zhu! Zhu! Liu Yinzeng was so excited that tears filled his eyes.

Then, I found one or two, a total of ***7!

The whole world is excited about the news. Bird organizations such as the United States, Japan, the former Soviet Union, North Korea and the Federal Republic of Germany, as well as international animal organizations and foundations, have sent letters to congratulate China on the rediscovery of crested ibis, and pinned their hopes for saving crested ibis on the people of China.

In order not to repeat the mistakes of the Japanese, zoologists in China have taken great pains to protect these seven crested ibis populations and make them thrive, and revised the rescue plan again and again. From the central government to the local government, a scientific and strict protection system has been formed. In the year when crested ibis was rediscovered, Yangxian Forestry Bureau of Shaanxi Province sent four staff members to form a protection team and began the initial observation and protection work. The staff pay attention to this rare crested ibis like their own children, so as to prevent them from being attacked by other raptors and any man-made injury.

198 1 Yangxian county people's government issued the notice on seriously protecting the world's rare bird crested ibis. After autumn, the Qinling 1 crested ibis protection station was established in Yaojiagou, Dadian Village, Bali Township. 1983 and 1986, with the support of the state forestry department, Yangxian crested ibis protection observatory and Shaanxi crested ibis protection station were established one after another. The relevant departments have successively equipped 17 professional managers to regularly observe, protect and raise the crested ibis family.

Crested ibis lives in temperate mountain forests and hilly areas, and has high requirements for living environment. It is used to inhabiting and nesting in tall trees, and likes to live in a quiet environment. There are paddy fields and swamps nearby for foraging, and there are relatively few natural enemies.

Under the careful care of the staff of the protection station, the number of wild crested ibis has gradually increased. 1993, artificial breeding of crested ibis was also successful. Up to now, the number of crested ibis has grown from the initial 7 to more than 500 endangered ibis, and it has finally been saved.

Third, different lives.

March is the breeding season of crested ibis and the most important moment in their lives. Unlike other birds, crested ibis is difficult to distinguish between male and female. It is still a mystery how courting male and female birds become husband and wife and how to distinguish between male and female. Usually they are monogamous and attach great importance to feelings. Generally speaking, crested ibis take turns to feed their children. Unlike all birds, they don't leave their eggs or chickens at the same time, and one of them always stays in the nest. When they take turns, they hang the eggs for a minute or two. Of course. Sometimes there will be a tragedy in which the blood of a snake or a bird of prey steps on the nest.

In terms of nesting, Zhu Xi likes to choose the tall branches of pine trees or green bar trees that have been growing for a hundred years, and begins to nest with small branches and grass. Zhu used his long and curved mouth as a tool to break the unstable branches on the tree, and then he had to make careful scientific arrangements in terms of comfort, applicability and scientificity. Summer in Qinling Mountains is wet and rainy. When it rains above 10, there will be one or two sunny days. Hatching eggs and brooding in the rain, how to make the nest filter water, keep warm and breathe, and how to make the long beak and body of the parent bird protect the eggs and chicks more closely are problems that Zhu people should consider, especially those young couples who just turned two and started nesting for the first time after sexual maturity. Because of lack of experience, sometimes several nests do not meet the requirements and have to be abandoned and rebuilt.

However, even for experienced crested ibis, building a good nest is only the beginning. During the months from laying eggs to hatching and raising young birds, they spend a lot of time repairing their nests every day.

If all this had not been seriously damaged decades ago, Zhu would not have worked so hard.

Generally speaking, the effective breeding year of crested ibis is 15-20 years, and the success rate is also high. But artificial reproduction has always been a worldwide problem.

1993, the first successful artificial hatching in China marked a major breakthrough in the scientific research of crested ibis. By 1999, there were more than 70 crested ibis artificially hatched and propagated.

Fourth, look forward to flying.

Scientists in China are doing scientific research with their hearts, feelings and love. However, the protection work has a long way to go, and Zhu's current situation cannot be underestimated.

Ding Changqing, a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of China Academy of Sciences, believes that several problems should be paid attention to at present: First, most of the wild populations are descendants of seven individuals discovered by 198 1, and the genetic diversity is limited, so a certain degree of inbreeding is inevitable. Secondly, at present, the wild crested ibis is only a population, and its range of activities is limited. In addition, the number of crested ibis is only more than 2 10, and its ability to resist unexpected events (such as weather, pollution and plague) is very limited. Once the disaster occurs, it may cause a devastating blow to the wild population of crested ibis. Therefore, crested ibis is far from getting rid of the threat of extinction, and the protection work cannot be relaxed and slack. In addition, due to the lack of in-depth research on feeding habits, range of activities, habitat selection and diseases, we should be very cautious about releasing caged individual birds. It should be further studied. It should be implemented after scientific basis is obtained, otherwise it is easy to cause disaster to the wild population of crested ibis by taking risks blindly. With the continuous expansion of the wild population of crested ibis, its activity area and breeding area will also expand. It is necessary to organize another large-scale investigation and strengthen publicity and education for people in nearby counties. In this way, it is expected to find new breeding grounds and even new populations.

A long time ago, crested ibis was actually a migratory bird, and they migrated with the change of seasons. Later, due to the deterioration of the living environment, there are fewer and fewer forests and wetlands suitable for crested ibis. They stay in Yangxian County, Shaanxi Province, at the southern foot of the Qinling Mountains all the year round and become "resident birds". With the increasing number of crested ibis, the work of releasing crested ibis in the wild has been put on the agenda. After the establishment of the first crested ibis breeding center in Loutai, zhouzhi county last year, the problems of successful breeding and natural brooding of crested ibis were solved, which laid the foundation for successful breeding of individuals in the wild.

The crested ibis, which was considered extinct on the earth more than 20 years ago, was found in Yangxian County, Shaanxi Province on 198 1. Thanks to the unremitting efforts of the China government and animal protection workers, the total number of wild and artificial populations has increased to more than 500. The increase in the number of crested ibis and the improvement of artificial feeding level have laid the foundation for future field training and flight test, and finally restored its migratory bird characteristics.

At present, bird protection has been regarded as one of the important symbols to measure the level of ecological protection, social culture and civilization development of a country. More than 50 countries in the world have selected their own "national birds", and dozens of provinces in China have also selected "provincial birds" representing their own ecological characteristics. On March 18, 2003, Zhu was elected as a "provincial bird" in the "provincial bird" selection activity organized by Shaanxi Provincial Forestry Department and Provincial Wildlife Protection Association.

In the national selection of "National Birds". Zhu has won the hearts of many people with his graceful posture, elegant temperament and precious "national treasure" value. Ranked among the top three "candidate birds". Let's pay attention to this recovered "Oriental Pearl" together!