Korea to import six Asiatic black bears

By Bae Ji-sook

Staff reporter

The government will import six Asiatic black bears from China and release some of them on Mt. Jiri later this year, the Korea National Park Service (KNPS) announced Monday.

The move is part of a project ― delayed for three years ― to restore wildlife that used to be indigenous to Korea.

The KNP, an affiliate of the Ministry of Environment, said the six bears will arrive in September from Heilongjang and Jilin. Relevant details are being finalized.

Five of the bears are females; three one-year-olds and two five-year-olds; while the single male is one-year-old. The younger animals will be sent to Gurye, South Jeolla Province to receive "adjustment training" before being released into the wild in October, while the others will be kept at zoos for reproduction.

Researchers will study the animals' genetic information to see whether they are similar to the indigenous species of Korea. They have visited 12 bear farms in China to inspect the breeding environment.

The KNPS is striving to import the black bears, registered as species on the verge of extinction here, to maintain a minimum population of 50 by 2017. However, the project had been neglected since target countries such as North Korea and Russia were reluctant to provide bears because of their own bio-preservation projects. Currently, there are 16 Asiatic black bears alive here; 13 of 29 released bears died within three years.

The latest deaths reported on June 30 were a female and male found dead at nearby farms in Mt. Jiri. One had apparently eaten pesticide while the other died trapped in a snare. Both had been imported from Russia.