• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.417-427
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• 2010

The purpose of this study was to investigate the possibility of ecotourism with an endangered species, Crested ibis (Nipponia nippon). To achieve the goal, this study evaluated the concern on the Crested ibis and wetland environment by the public, the interest on the regional development, restoration of the Crested ibis, and interest to the region, and also, the behavioral intentions of the visitors to the Upo wetland. It was found that there were significant relationship between perceptions on the Crested ibis and the interests of the environment, perceptions of Crested ibis and the interest to region, perceptions of the Crested ibis restoration and interest to the environment, perceptions of Crested ibis restoration and the interests to the region, and the interest to the environment and behavioral intentions. But there was no significant relationship between the interests to the region and behavioral intentions.

• Korean Journal of Ornithology
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.77-81
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• 2018

The Korean Crested ibis Nipponia Nippon is an endangered species. A pair of Crested ibis was introduced from China in October 2008, and a successful program of artificial incubation of the species, and over 200 animals have been successfully bred through the restoration project up to 2017 at Upo ibis restoration center. We assessed genetic diversity and sex determination in the Korean Crested ibis. In total, 228 Crested ibis (115 females and 113 males) were identified. And genetic diversity measures, observed heterozygosity, expected heterozygosity, and polymorphic information content values were lower in 2017 than those in 2016. The inbreeding coefficient showed that the degree of ancestry increased in 2017. The decrease in polymorphism and increase in the degree of ancestry is thought to be due to inbreeding in such a small group. In this study provided important insight into protocols for genetic management of the breeding population of Korean Crested ibis in Korea and will help in extending the restoration program.

• Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.154-158
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• 2020

The Asian crested ibis Nipponia nippon is one of the world's most endangered species. Except for the Sanxii population from China, it is known that all of the crested ibis populations from East Asia have been extinguished. In these days, most of them are being inbred as captive populations in China, South Korea, and Japan, which caused their low expected genetic diversity. Microsatellite markers are well known as a suitable DNA marker for exploring genetic diversity among captive populations of a variety of endangered species. In the present study, ten microsatellite markers were developed for the captive populations of the South Korean crested ibis, which were employed to examine the level of genetic diversity with the two founders from Sanxii, China and the 70 descendants of them. As a result, the mean number of gene diversity, observed heterozygosity, and expected heterozygosity of the captive population were 0.70, 0.84, and 0.70 respectively. It revealed that the captive population of South Korea is as genetically more stable than we expected. In addition, the principal coordinates analysis and genetic structure analyses showed that the captive population of N. nippon can be divided into the two different genetic groups. The developed microsatellite markers here could be helpful for crested ibis conservation in East Asian countries such as China and Japan as well as South Korea.

• Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.191-196
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• 2010

The Oriental White Stork (Ciconia boyciana) and the Crested Ibis (Nipponia nippon) are wetland species listed as "Endangered" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The two species were once common on the Korean peninsula, but have experienced a severe population reduction in the past decades. Currently, they are officially extinct in Korea. At present, reintroduction programs to release the birds to the wild are in progress in Korea as well as in Japan. In this study, we surveyed the historic breeding sites of the two species using the literature and face-to-face interviews with local people as a step toward determining appropriate breeding habitats for reintroduction. We found 26 historic breeding sites for the Oriental White Stork in Chungcheong-do and Gyeonggi-do, but did not find any breeding sites for the Crested Ibis. These findings suggest that the Oriental White Stork was resident, while the Crested Ibis was a winter visitor to Korea. Based on these results, we discuss the possibilities for successful reintroduction of the two species in Korea.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.626-630
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• 2011

In October 2008, a pair of Crested ibis Nipponia nippon, an endangered avian species in the world, was donated to Korea from China. They have since been the subject of a successful program to incubate chicks for the first time in South Korea. This study was carried out to determine the sex of chicks from the Crested ibis through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using the sex-related gene and the chromodomain helicase DNA binding protein (CHD) gene. The result of the CHD gene, which was used with a single set of primers and a restriction enzyme treatment after the PCR process, was more accurate in identifying the gender of the Crested ibis. In addition, we compared the CHD gene sequences with the previously reported sequences and found 1~2 different bases between females (CI2, CI4, CI5, and CI6) than in studies previously reporting female sequences.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.13 no.7
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• pp.1026-1034
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• 2000

As described here, most recently developed methods for improving reproduction performance of domesticated animals such as cattle, swine and chicken have been considered to be also usable for restoring some sorts of endangered and/or extinct wild animals in the very near future. Especially, the techniques for in vitro storage of gametes obtained from dead animals shortly after the death, probably 24 h following the sacrifice are also available for obtaining some of experimental specimens. In case of the endangered animals, nobody will be allowed to use any tissues from the living animals, therefore, e.g., the use of skin tissues from these bodies is another possibility of restoring the living animals. Regarding the use of skin tissues, the most highly usable tools must be the cloning techniques for reviving rare cells from the living body. Most possible techniques for cloning cells is nuclear transfer from rare species to highly relative species, and this is the case of germ cells, e.g., primordial germ cells (PGCs) of avian species. One of the possibilities is the nuclear transfer of Crested Ibis (Nipponia nippon) to the PGCs of chicken, resulting in the PGCs with transferred nucleus from the ibis. In mammalian species, the same procedure as in the case of birds would be successful, e.g., the removed nucleus from Giant Pandas will be transferred to the cell, such as somatic cells or germ cells from black bears or lesser pandas, leading to the production of transnucleared cells in the body of female black bears. These two cases are most promising techniques for reviving endangered animals in the world, particularly in Asian countries, mainly in China. As a conclusion, possible production of cloned animals carrying transnucleared cells from endangered animals, such as Giant Pandas and Crested Ibis, may be reproduced gradually in the near future. Scientists are, therefore, required to convert the paradigm from domestic animals to wild animals, including endangered and/or extinct animals on the earth.

• Journal of Species Research
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.101-118
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• 2017

In an investigation of indigenous prokaryotic species in Korea, a total of 57 bacterial strains assigned to the classes Betaproteobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria were isolated from diverse environments. Samples were collected from fresh water, natural caves, soil, paddy fields, lakes, sea water, jeotgal (fermented seafood), salt flats, soil from abandoned mines, plant roots, digestive organs of both Japanese crested ibis (Nipponia nippon) and Burmese python (Python molurus bivittatus) and tidal flats. From the high 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity (>98.7%) and formation of robust phylogenetic clades with closely related species, it was determined that each strain belonged to an independent and predefined bacterial species within either the Betaproteobacteria or Gammaproteobacteria. There is no official report or publication that describes these 57 proteobacterial species in Korea. Overall, in the class Betaproteobacteria there were 16 species in 12 genera of 4 families in the order Burkholderiales and two species in two genera of one family in the order Neisseriales. Within the class Gammaproteobacteia, there were five species in four genera of four families in the order Alteromonadales, 12 species in 11 genera of one family in the order Enterobacteriales, four species in four genera of three families in the order Oceanospirillales, 11 species in four genera of two families in the order Pseudomonadales, two species in the order Vibrionales and five species in five genera of one family in the order Xanthomonadales. Gram reaction, colony and cell morphology, basic biochemical characteristics, isolation source and strain IDs are described in the species description section.