The bird of the prefecture that I live in is called the Japanese crested ibis. It is known for living on a large island that is part of my prefecture called Sado. The only problem with that is that all of the wild ibis in Japan got whipped out back in 2003. There are birds that are growing up in protected places so the bird does not totally disappear, but it is endangered and on the brink of extinction. Now there are a total of 122 of these birds that live in Japan.
So, what does this bird look like? Before I show you a picture prepare yourself. It is an ugly bird. You ready? Here we go.
Nice, huh? So, why am I talking about this bird? Well, there is actually some good news on the ibis front. You can see this news here. Last Friday on Sado Island 10 birds were released in the wild. This is the first time this bird has been in the skies over Sado in about 27 years.
This is a good thing. Any time when an animal that was on the brink of extinction (or in this case, it was actually extinct in Japan) is brought back to the wild. The group that released the 10 birds wants to release another 50 of them by 2015. Years from now the skies of Sado might look like they did before humans messed up the bird population.
From the picture it is a little hard to tell how big this birds actually are. They are very very big. The video below shows the birds and a big dog. They are just as big if not bigger.
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is 朱鷺(とき). It is pronounced toki and means Japanese crested ibis. It is good to hear that the birds are back. I hope they can stay in the wild with no problems.
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
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