Protecting the Food Source of the Endangered Crested Ibis in Shaanxi, China

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Protecting the Food Source of the Endangered Crested Ibis in Shaanxi, China

Rare Conservation Yobo Member
August 10th, 2011

By J. M. McCord

In 1981 only seven of the majestic crested ibis survived in the wild – four adults and three chicks, all in the Hanzhong Crested Ibis Nature Reserve in Shaanxi, China. It once ranged throughout Asia and parts of Russia. Some moderately successful captive-breeding programs for the bird existed, but the State Forestry Administration decided to leave the magnificent seven in the wild. Nature reserve staff monitored the birds around the clock, literally standing guard to protect nests from any potential threats.

It was a risky strategy, but today the birds in the wild number in the hundreds. That said, it still hovers dangerously close to extinction. A relentless decrease in its food stock, mainly fish, threatens the bird’s future.

Rare Conservation Fellow Qing Baoping, along with his six colleagues working throughout China’s wetlands, will establish agreements with the surrounding communities and the nature reserve to co-manage the fisheries and enforce the use of sustainable fishing techniques. Fishers commonly employ illegal fishing techniques like electric shock. Qing’s focus is on protecting the food resource of the ibis since dead birds, especially in the winter, have been found showing signs of starvation. Qing has a background in veterinary science and used to work in the captive-breeding program for the ibis. He is very familiar and fond of the large, white flying fishers.

The reserve has a relatively big, well-organized staff that has managed to secure a much brighter future for the ibis than the conservation community predicted 30 years ago. Still, Qing’s goals for his two-year campaign with Rare are ambitious. Any predicted increase in the ibis population is optimistic; yet he hopes for an increase of 200 birds and an eight percent increase in the fish stock.

The success of his program will hinge on the enforcement against electric shock fishing and the establishment of seasonal and geographical restrictions on fishing. In late May the reserve will celebrate its 30th anniversary. Qing and the reserve staff will use the festivities as an opportunity to engage fishers in managing their own resources and to appreciate the living miracle that shares their wetlands.

This story originally appeared at the Rare Conservation Blog

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