‘Sleeping in the Dew’: Seeking the Rare Ibis

In 1979 the Chinese Academy of Sciences accepted an important challenge: Find the ibis.

The ibis is a characteristic species of bird in Asia, one of the rarest birds in the world, known as “the jewel of the East.” It was classified as an internationally protected species in 1960. The ibis had disappeared from the Soviet Union and Korea; five were kept in cages in Japan, but had lost their ability to reproduce. To save the ibis from extinction, there was no alternative but to place hopes in our country, China.

Ibis, called in Chinese zhulu or honghe, used to be widely distributed throughout our country; as late as the 1930s they were known in 14 provinces. But in the early 1960s only a few specimens of ibis were found, and no traces were seen in the wild after then.

To attempt to search half of China for a bird missing for 20 years was like fishing for a needle in the ocean. The task was courageously undertaken by Liu Ying-zeng, a scientist in the Animal Research Institute. He spent three years observing and studying, traveling 50,000 kilometers across 13 provinces, climbing mountains and wading across rivers, eating in the wind and sleeping in the dew, sometimes having to deal with beasts of prey.

The result: He not only didn’t find any sign of ibis, he found few habitats where ibis could live; though he found no ibis, he did find why it was at the edge of extinction.

With its big body and feathers of gay colors, the ibis has many natural enemies. And because it is vulnerable to many illnesses, its natural death rate is high. But most important, the ibis requires three things to build a suitable nest: a high and dense forest, pools and paddies where its food lives, peaceful and secluded surroundings. Unfortunately, in the last 20 years many forests in the wilderness have been cut down; new agriculture techniques cut back on pools and paddies; pesticides, chemical fertilizers and industrial development had polluted many fields and water sources.

Scientist Liu’s effort was not in vain. He did find important clues. He found three ibis feathers in a hunter’s home; it was said that the bird had been shot only two or three years before.

Returning to the institute, he enjoyed strong support for continuing the search. The institute provided a cross-country vehicle for him, an increase in money for exploring, and a set of slides to educate people in the countryside about the ibis.

In Yang County, Shanxi Province, he searched long and was about to move on when a peasant ran to him. The man had seen the slides in the cinema; he knew where there was a live ibis.

Liu didn’t firmly believe his words, for local peasants usually don’t draw a distinction among many similar birds--cranes, egrets, herons, etc. Liu showed the peasant an ibis photo and asked him to go see the ibis once more to be sure. Two days later the man came back: “Quite right! It is the very image of your photo!”

Liu and the man, Mr. Wu, drove to the mountains first, then walked more than five kilometers to Jingjiahe, 1,200 meters above sea level. A nest was there, bigger than that of a heron and simpler than that of a magpie; but where was ibis? Some bird-talon prints were in wet sand by a pool. After analyzing them, Liu was sure that an ibis--living--had looked for food there within the past 48 hours.

He tramped up hill and down dale for two days. Returning to Jingjiahe on the afternoon of the third day, at last he saw what he sought: an ibis, flying from east to northwest. They pursued the bird and six days later thought they had found the Jingjiahe ibis from the No. 1 nest, as they called it, eating something in a field. But an old peasant in the village said that it was a local ibis, with a nest nearby.

Liu found the nearby tree with the nest and three nestlings popping their heads up and looking about and crying “Ji-ji-jia,” very happily, it seemed to Liu. Excited, tears started from his eyes. He decided to camp there; food was sent to him once a week from the town in his motorcar.

Because Liu on the first day did not move from under the tree, the parent ibis dared not return to feed its babies. That evening, he heard something fall to the ground with a crash; he flashed his torch but did not find the nestling until the next day. It was injured and very cold and tired. He asked a village boy to collect some live snails and a frog. Liu cut them into pieces with scissors and fed them to the nestling. When it recovered it was put back in the nest but perhaps it carried a bit of human smell, for its parent regarded it as foreign and ignored it. Liu was obliged to keep the pitiful thing while he waited for instructions.

When the news got around--”Ibis found in China!”--it caused a sensation in the zoological community.

Only seven ibis were found by the end of 1981, and the pertinent government departments took emergency measures to save the rare creature: anyone offering leads to ibis would get rewards; anyone killing it would be severely punished. Protection measures were set up, such as expanding paddy fields and limiting agricultural chemicals.

Last May there were 17 ibis in the wilderness, but only half of their eggs survived (soft shells are a problem), and of them, only 21 nestlings hatched, and nine of them soon died. Authorities say that for the ibis to come back from the edge of extinction, at least 500 pairs must live. We in China who are concerned hope for international cooperation; we depend on modern scientific knowledge to save this rare bird from extinction on our planet.