NIIGATA, Japan (Kyodo) -- Japan's first captive-bred crested ibis, a large wading bird designated a natural treasure in the country, has died at the age of 26 at a conservation center on the island of Sado, the Environment Ministry said Wednesday.

The bird named Yu Yu was born in May 1999 at the center on Sado, in Niigata Prefecture, as the offspring of a pair of ibis gifted by China, named You You and Yang Yang, earlier that same year.

His birth was welcomed in Japan, which had been trying to artificially breed the birds since 1981 after the species became extinct in the wild due to hunting and habitat loss.

Niigata Gov. Hideyo Hanazumi commented after Yu Yu died on Monday that the bird played a "big role" in restoring the population of wild ibises in Japan.

The ministry said that as of the end of 2024, the number of crested ibises in the wild in Japan were estimated to be 576.

According to the ministry, Yu Yu had not exhibited any irregularities as of Friday, but his appetite declined at the weekend.