Japanese spirits were uplifted recently by the news that three "toki," or Japanese crested ibis, chicks were hatched in the wild for the first time in 36 years, the culmination of a ¥300 million project that was started in 1999 to breed the endangered wading birds outside captivity.
As its scientific name, Nipponia nippon, implies, Japanese crested ibises are a symbol of the nation. They had flourished for centuries but overhunting and loss of habitats led to their virtual extinction by the 1930s.
What characterizes the species and how did it come by its name?