Tufted puffins nearing extinction in Japan with few recent sightings

Tufted puffins appear to be on the brink of dying out in Japan with only a few pairs spotted on the northern main island of Hokkaido despite local conservation efforts.Recognizable by their orange bills, tufted puffins can now be found in the country only on two uninhabited islands located off Nemuro in the east of Hokkaido.The approximately 40-centimeter-tall birds, known as "Etopirika" in Japan, nest in burrows on islands and in coastal areas along the North Pacific, including Moscow-held islands off Hokkaido claimed by Tokyo. The global population was estimated at 3.5 million in 1996, bu…READ FULL ARTICLE