Rare
wader is designated a national monument that features in popular
children’s song
Wednesday
22 May 2019 18:48
The
endangered crested ibis has reportedly been reintroduced to South Korea 40
years after it went extinct in the Asian country.
Forty of
the rare wading birds were bred in captivity before being released into the
wild at Upo Wetland in South Gyeongsang province, southeast of
Seoul, the Yonhap news agency reported.
The last
time a crested ibis was spotted on the Korean peninsula is believed to have
been in 1979 when it was spotted in the demilitarised zone separating the
south from North
Korea.
The
bird used to be a common sight until pesticide use reportedly damaged its
food sources.
A
designated national monument in South Korea, it is also seen in China and
Japan.
The
captive population in South Korea has now reached 363, according to
the Agence France-Presse news agency.
The
breeding programme began with a birds donated by Beijing.
In South
Korea the crested ibis is linked to an eponymous popular children’s song,
composed when Japan ruled the country.
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