Another 10 Crested Ibises Released in Ishikawa Pref.

Kanazawa, Ishikawa Pref., June 15 (Jiji Press)–Another 10 crested ibises have been released into the wild in the city of Hakui in the Noto region of the central Japan prefecture of Ishikawa, the prefectural government said Monday. This brought the number of crested ibises, a special natural treasure of Japan, set free on the country’s Honshu main island to 18, including the eight released on May 31. The 10 were released Sunday using the “soft release” method, in which they were allowed to leave the temporary cages on their own after becoming accustomed to the surrounding environment. The “hard release” method was used for the May 31 event, in which the crested ibises were released directly from boxes. After the doors of the temporary cages were opened at around 9:30 a.m. Sunday, all 10 crested ibises had flown away by shortly past 3 p.m. that day, prefectural government officials said. The next release of the birds is planned for around September in the town of Nakanoto in the prefecture. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]