After teetering on the edge of extinction domestically for several years, the Japanese crested ibis took a small step away from the brink when a chick cheeped its way into the world on May 21.
But questions about the ramifications of the birth of this wispy chick have yet to be broached.
Has Japan turned a corner and reflected on the factors that nearly erased the bird from this archipelago? Can Japan provide an environment in which the bird can flourish?