XI'AN, April 9 (Xinhua) -- An artificial breeding center in northwest China's Shaanxi Province recently had its first crested ibis chick hatched this year.

After naturally hatching in a cage, the baby bird emerged from its shell on March 25 in the breeding center of Yangxian County, the provincial forestry authorities announced Monday.

The period from March to June is the breeding season of the crested ibis. Enough sunshine and rising temperatures are decisive factors of the spawning time of the bird.

At present, there are 22 pairs of crested ibises in the feeding center, eight pairs have laid eggs, according to the staff at the center.

Until the discovery of seven wild crested ibises on May 23, 1981, in Yangxian, the birds, once common in Japan, China, Russia and the Korean Peninsula, were thought to be extinct in the wild.

Since the discovery, the local government of Shaanxi has set up reserves, carried out bird banding, bred the birds in captivity and released them into the wild.

About 2,500 crested ibises live in Shaanxi with their habitat covering around 14,000 square kilometers.