Upo crested ibis restoration project began by bringing in a male and female – Yangzhou and Longting – in 2008 and two males – Bice and Jinshui – in 2013. The 4 ibises were successfully restored to become over 300 individuals for 10 years of the project. Since 2017, in preparation for avian influenza (AI) and natural disaster, the ibises have been dispersed to and taken care of in monsoon centers. In 2019, 40 years of its extinction in South Korea, 40 ibises were released into the wild, so people can now enjoy the scene of crested ibises flying freely up into the sky above Upo Wetland.
The significance of restoring crested ibises is to restore livable habitats in Upo Wetland for crested ibises’ successful settlement to secure biodiversity and regain healthy ecological environment while producing safe foodstuffs for regional development and coexistence of nature and human in our society.