The first book I wrote was “The Grouse Flew.” ‘ has been published. : Asahi Shimbun SDGs ACTION!

2024.04.26 (Last updated: 2024.04.26)

Hiroshi Nakamura, professor emeritus of Shinshu University, takes command of the grouse revival operation (Photo by Asahi Shimbun)

Mountain journalist/Yukio Kondo

Yukio Kondo, who has been serializing the “Grouse Resurrection Strategy” in SDGs ACTION! since April 2021, has written a new article about the grouse conservation and breeding project being undertaken by the Ministry of the Environment in the Central Alps from a new perspective, “The Grouse Flew.” ‘ was published. This is a record of my dedication to chasing after the “Bird of God,” even after leaving work.

Yukio Kondo
Born in 1959. He joined Asahi Shimbun in 1986 after graduating from Shinshu University’s Faculty of Agriculture. He started reporting on mountains at his first post, the Toyama branch office, and has extensive experience reporting overseas, including in the Antarctic, the North Pole, and the Himalayas. In January 2022, he left the company and became a freelancer. He lives in Nagano City. He is a member of the Japan Mountaineering Association and the Japan Himalayan Association.

Even after retiring from Asahi Shimbun, where I worked for 36 years,

This time it’s an extra edition.

My first book is “The Grouse Flew.” ” (Shueisha International) was released on April 26th. This work can be said to be the culmination of research on grouse that I started in 2015. The reason for publishing this book was because I wanted to summarize the “Grouse Revival Strategy” in the Central Alps, which I introduced in a series on SDGs ACTION!, from a journalist’s perspective.

In January 2022, with two and a half years left until retirement, I resigned from Asahi Shimbun and became a freelancer. This is because the Nagano General Bureau, where I was working, asked me to transfer to another prefecture.

“Operation Grouse Revival” is what I named it. The ptarmigan lives deep in the high mountains and is associated with mountain worship and has been respected as a “bird of the gods,” but for a long time it was thought to be extinct in the Central Alps. This is an unprecedented project to revive it. I really wanted to see the ending.

If you transfer and leave Nagano, that opportunity will be lost. There is only one choice. I never thought that I would be retiring early from the company I worked for for 36 years for Grouse. That’s why “Bird of God” has become so fascinating to me.

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In August 2015, an “incident” occurred at Mt. Higashitendai (2,814m) in the Northern Alps, where a Japanese macaque preyed on a ptarmigan chick. At a press conference, I met Hiroshi Nakamura, Professor Emeritus of Shinshu University, who is the main character of this book, and my research on grouse began.

art_01155_Main text 1 (monkey).jpeg — A Japanese macaque holding a captured ptarmigan chick in its mouth (provided by Hiroshi Nakamura)

Mr. Nakamura is known as a leading grouse researcher, and his research on cuckoos, which have a brooding habit in which other species of birds incubate their eggs and raise their chicks, has already become a world-renowned research subject. I was making progress. While visiting overseas for research, he realized that of all the grouse found in the world, only Japanese grouse were not afraid of humans, so he returned to researching grouse again after he turned 50. It was.

They began by devising a method to capture grouse without damaging them, and also attached leg rings to make it possible to identify individuals. In just 20 years, he has been able to uncover a number of unknown aspects of the grouse’s ecology, one after another, through DNA analysis of collected blood.

Interview that forces you both physically and mentally

I started mountain climbing in 1978 after entering Shinshu University. I have climbed the Northern Alps many times since I started working, and I have been comforted by the sight of grouse that I sometimes see. However, little was known about its ecology.

As soon as we began our research, we realized that the population of grouse has decreased rapidly in recent years, and they are on the verge of extinction. According to surveys in the 1980s, there were approximately 3,000 birds, but since 2000, the number has decreased to less than 2,000. The cause was environmental changes in the alpine zone where grouse live.

The biggest impact was the emergence of new predators. Martens and foxes, which originally lived in satoyama, have invaded the alpine zone, and the chicks are now eaten before they reach adulthood. I won’t go into details, but this is because the Satoyama area was devastated due to depopulation.

What can we do to bring the rapidly declining population of grouse back to their original population? The Ministry of the Environment has decided to undertake a project to protect and breed grouse. Mr. Nakamura plays a central role in this.

Once grouse numbers have declined to a critical point, it takes time and effort to bring them back to their original numbers in their habitat. Mr. Nakamura found a solution to this difficult problem.

They created a “cage protection” system by constructing a large cage with a wooden frame and wire mesh, and housing the chicks with their mother at night and during bad weather for a while after they are born, protecting them from natural predators and the cold. In fact, we conducted this project for five years around Mt. Kitadake in the Southern Alps, and succeeded in quadrupling the population of grouse.

Cage protection will also be used in the revival operation in the Central Alps. What surprised me even more was the term “ex situ conservation.” They will also try to move grouse outside their natural habitat, that is, to a zoo, increase their numbers through artificial breeding, and then return them to the mountains.

Grouse live in alpine zones above 2200 meters above sea level. I also decided to interview Mr. Nakamura on site, but in the pouring rain and on a freezing snowy mountain, it was a physically and mentally demanding experience. Even so, the grouse that I encountered after all my hardships seemed to me to be, without exaggeration, a “bird of the gods.”

art_01155_Main text 2 (cage).jpeg — A protective cage installed on the slope above the mountain hut at Mt. Kisokomagatake (photographed by the author)

The story revolves around Nakamura.

The book is divided into two parts. The first part, with the theme of “endangered extinction,” explained the habitat situation of grouse and the reasons for their decline due to natural enemies and other factors. The second part is “Resurrection Strategy”. Introducing the Ministry of the Environment’s population restoration project in the Central Alps, where grouse went extinct half a century ago. In both Parts 1 and 2, the story revolves around Mr. Nakamura.

In the summer of 2018, a female grouse suddenly appeared on Mt. Kisokomagatake (295m), the main peak of the Central Alps, which motivated me to continue researching and write a book. At that time, I thought, “The grouse were not extinct in the Central Alps. They were surviving in a small way.” However, DNA analysis of the feathers revealed that this female had come from the Northern Alps.

Taking this opportunity, the “Grouse Revival Operation” was launched. The female bird is a symbol of the project and was later named “Flying Female”.

art_01155_Main text 3 (flying female).jpeg — Flying female and chicks (photographed by the author)

In the course of my research, I discovered that there was a plan for a “Phantom Revival Operation” about 40 years ago. It was proposed by Mr. Nakamura’s mentor, former Shinshu University professor Kenzo Hada (deceased). However, with the technology available at the time, it was not possible to revive the grouse.

Grouse, unlike satoyama birds such as ibis and stork, are birds that have evolved in a special way by adapting to the special environment of the alpine zone. Mr. Nakamura and his colleagues continued to confront the challenges that arose one after another with their unique ideas, cutting-edge scientific knowledge, and boundless passion.

Half a century has passed since the grouse became extinct in the Central Alps. Meanwhile, Japan’s pristine alpine environment has changed significantly for the worse. With the transition from Showa to Heisei to Reiwa, our lives have become richer. I think the next thing we need to focus on is caring for nature.

The relationship between land, water, oceans, and other areas targeted by the SDGs, including climate change, and living things is extremely important. Despite this, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s Red List (list of the world’s endangered wildlife species) continues to grow.

It’s been a little less than 6 years since a flying female was discovered. As of March 2024, the population of grouse in the Central Alps has increased to approximately 110 individuals. The goal is at hand. I hope that you will pick up this book, learn about their history and efforts, and think about what these ptarmigans are trying to convey to us.