In a remarkable conservation success story, retired ornithologist Liu Yinzeng recounts his historic discovery that rescued the crested ibis from near-certain extinction. Now 88, the dedicated scientist has relocated from Beijing to Yangxian, Shaanxi province—the very location where his breakthrough finding occurred over four decades ago.
Each morning, Dr. Liu conducts his cherished ritual: driving his electric buggy to nearby wetlands to observe the thriving crested ibis population. “I’ve counted carefully many times,” he notes with evident pride, “and now one out of every ten egrets you see here in Yangxian is actually a crested ibis.”
The turning point came in May 1981 when Dr. Liu, then with the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Zoology, discovered the world’s last seven surviving crested ibises—two adult pairs and three chicks—after an exhaustive three-year search spanning 50,000 kilometers across China. He had nearly concluded the species was extinct, having prepared a research paper to that effect.
The breakthrough emerged unexpectedly when a hunter presented three feathers that Dr. Liu’s expertise confirmed belonged to the sought-after species. With additional funding secured, he shifted strategy in Yangxian, mobilizing local communities by projecting images of the bird on cinema screens before film screenings.
The critical lead arrived from hunter He Choudan, whose detailed description matched the crested ibis despite an unusual high-altitude sighting. Dr. Liu immediately investigated and, while descending a hillside at dusk, spotted a bird with distinctive red feathers beneath its wings—the telltale sign of a crested ibis. Though excitement caused a fall that momentarily lost the bird, three days of persistent searching culminated in the historic discovery of the seven remaining birds.
Following the discovery, Dr. Liu and colleagues implemented round-the-clock protection, particularly during March-June breeding seasons. The Yangxian government issued emergency protections prohibiting hunting, land reclamation, and deforestation within the birds’ habitat, with local residents making “tremendous sacrifices” to support conservation efforts.
From those seven birds, the population has rebounded to over 7,000 crested ibises in China as of late 2024, with Yangxian remaining the species’ stronghold—a living testament to dedicated scientific perseverance and community-supported conservation.