
60 years ago, we did not notice the crested ibis and it is not endemic to China, because it was so widely distributed. Even in the 1930s, because of the excessive number of crested ibis which harmed agricultural production, they were killed by the Japanese organically. In history, the crested ibis was widely distributed in the east and northeast Asia. Since 1960, the number took a nose-dive, which is the first turn of fate of the first ibis. To the 1970s, China, the former Soviet Union and Japan spent a lot of energy looking for the crested ibis but failed. Crested ibis was once considered extinct. In 1981, a turnaround came. The expedition, organized by the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences finally discovered seven wild crested ibis in Yang County, Shanxi Province after three years of large-scale investigation. Those crested ibises were the world's only remaining wild population, and all crested ibises in the world now are their offspring.
"Reviving from severe situation "makes Crested Ibis a household bird and our country pays more attention to its protection. Now the number of crested ibis in the world has been restored to over 2000, of which about 1000 are wild crested ibises, who are not out of the endangered situation.