The wild population of the Oriental White Stork inhabited Tajima district, located in the northern part of Hyogo Prefecture, but became extinct in the wild in 1971. Thereafter, long-term efforts for propagation of the storks in captivity have been continued. Subsequently, the release of the captive-born storks was started with five individuals in hard release on Sep. 24, 2005. Soft-releasing also was started in 2006, and a total of 27 individuals have been released within the pilot release period until 2010. The chick fledged in the wild successfully in 2007 for the first time in 43 years, followed with yearly successful breeding. Recently the wild-born storks of Tajima district move all over Japan, so they are sighted across the country.