A baby tufted pufferfish, a seabird that lives in Hokkaido and is in danger of extinction, was born last week at an aquarium in Osaka, and was shown to the press in its cute, black-haired form.
In Japan, Tufted Puffins, which live mainly in eastern Hokkaido, are seabirds with golden feathers on their heads and large orange beaks, and are designated as a nationally endangered species.
A chick was born on the 12th of this month at Kaiyukan in Minato-ku, Osaka, which is the only place in western Japan that breeds tufted puffins, and was released to the press.
The chicks are covered with fluffy black hair that can only be seen at this time of year, and they are growing steadily, receiving food from their parent birds.
The chicks are in their burrows and cannot be seen from the outside at present, but after they leave the burrows around the end of next month, general visitors will be able to see them.
At Kaiyukan, we are working on breeding tufted puffins, and since the first chick was born three years ago, this is the fourth one.
Daisuke Morimoto of Kaiyukan, who is in charge of breeding, said, "I'm very happy because breeding is one of the purposes. Right now, I can't see the chicks directly, but I want them to see the parent birds raising their children. I hope that you will be able to think even a little about the fact that the population is declining."