Niigata adopted one of the most spectacular prefectural birds on September 13, 1965. No bird has a more Japanese scientific name.
Though once widespread in Japan, the crested ibis is now nearly extinct. In 1952 it was designated a Special Natural Monument, and in 1960 it was listed as an internationally protected species. Yet there is just one surviving native-born crested ibis in Japan, a 25-year-old female bird named Kin which is cared for at the Toki Preservation Center on Sado Island in Niigata Prefecture.
The crested ibis was feared extinct outside Japan until a few were discovered in China in 1981. In January of 1999, two Chinese ibises were donated to Japan, becoming a symbol of goodwill between the two nations.
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