Japan sends 16 crested ibises to China after 8 years

A total of 16 precious Japan-born crested ibises, offspring of birds sent from China, arrived in China last week following an event that unfolded on Sado island, Niigata Prefecture, Japan. The event marked not just a rare species exchange between China and Japan, but also a significant milestone in the longstanding ecological conservation collaboration between the two countries, according to reports in the Chinese daily Global Times and the Japanese news agency Kyodo. Representatives from...

Paul Watson wins The Perfect World Foundation Award

The Perfect World Foundation, a wildlife and nature organization based in Gothenburg, Sweden, has named Captain Paul Watson, renowned marine conservationist and founder of several organizations, including The Captain Paul Watson Foundation, as the recipient of The Perfect World Foundation award 2025 for ‘Conservationist of the Year’. Captain Watson joins a distinguished group of previous awardees, including Sir David Attenborough, Dr Jane Goodall, Prince Albert II of Monaco, and Dr Sylvia Earle. The award honours...

China, Japan teamwork reviving crested ibis population

The crested ibis (scientific name Nipponia nippon), also known as the Asian or Japanese crested ibis, or toki, is a species cherished by the peoples of northeast Asia, who consider it the “bird of good fortune”. That belief did not, however, help the large bird with the distinctive red head and white plumes on the nape of the neck, and by the late 1970s, the crested ibis was practically extinct in its former range of...

‘Legally Pirate’ Paul Watson and his strategy of aggressive non-violence

Captain Paul Watson has been a hero for marine life for many decades now. He was back in the news this month when he announced a mission to thwart Japan’s plan to resume whaling near the continent of Antarctica, and Operation Ice Storm, his plan to prevent the hunting of fin whales by an Icelandic multi-millionaire. One of the founding members and directors of Greenpeace, Watson left the organization in 1977 after a disagreement and...