Crested Ibises killed in their cages
Sado Island’s program of raising Japanese crested ibises and releasing them into the wild has suffered a serious setback after a marten slipped into the breeding center and killed several birds. The intruder was caught on camera:
Two male birds born in 2009 and seven female birds born between 2004 and 2008 were reportedly killed. At around 8 a.m. on Wednesday, a center employee noticed that ibises were not visible in surveillance camera footage of the cage, and found eight of the 11 birds in training for release dead, including one with animal bites. Two other birds were seriously injured, one of which died later. The remaining ibis was unhurt.
According to the ministry, loud ibis calls were also recorded by the surveillance camera 10 times between 8 p.m. on Tuesday and 6 a.m. on Wednesday. The ministry says the birds were probably attacked during that span.
The center will stop training other ibises in the cage until it finds out how the marten entered and takes steps to prevent similar accidents in the future. The ministry was planning to release 21 ibises into the wild this autumn, including the nine that died, but will discuss responses to the matter at an experts’ meeting next Tuesday.
Workers are now trying to plug any holes in the protective fencing around the enclosure, so that future animal attacks will not occur.
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