Orchid Awards guests visit crested ibis ecological park in Shaanxi

Editor's note: International judges and nominees of the Third Orchid Awards, along with nominees from previous editions, visited the Crested Ibis Ecological Park in Hanzhong, northwest China's Shaanxi province, on Friday.

Once widespread across East Asia, the crested ibis nearly vanished from the wild because of environmental change and human activity. In 1981, an expedition team led by Liu Yinzeng, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, found seven wild crested ibises in Yangxian county, beginning decades of efforts to save the species.

The latest figures from the Shaanxi provincial forestry bureau show the global crested ibis population topped 12,000 by the end of 2025. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has moved the bird from critically endangered to endangered on its Red List.

The crested ibis is a national first-class protected wild animal in China. The Crested Ibis Ecological Park in Hanzhong is a breeding and rescue facility that combines wildlife protection, scientific research and public education.

International judges and nominees of the Third Orchid Awards, along with nominees from previous editions, visit the Crested Ibis Ecological Park in Hanzhong, northwest China's Shaanxi province, Sept. 11, 2026. [Photo by Xu Xiaoxuan/China.org.cn]