Bear travels 80km, raising concern on human safety, habitat protection
By Kim Se-jeong
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Species Restoration Technology Institute representatives carry a captured Asian black bear down Mount Sudo, June 15./Yonhap
Asian black bears almost went extinct in Korea. Mount Jiri used to have a lot of them, but their population shrank as mountains were destroyed for development and they were deprived of their habitat and food sources.
In an effort to restore them to nature, the Species Restoration Technology Institute under the Ministry of Environment spearheaded a restoration project in 2004. The institute bred the species and fed newborn bears before releasing them into the wild. The institute estimated 47 bears live on Mount Jiri.
Earlier this week, however, one of them was found on Mount Sudo near Gimcheon, North Gyeongsang Province.
The bear was spotted by a group of people who were maintaining trails on the mountain. The institute’s representatives rushed to the scene to confirm it was one of the bears it bred.
The institute lost track of it last September: While each animal has a chip implant to enable the authorities to monitor its whereabouts, the institute failed to replace the chip battery in time.
The institute concluded the bear had traveled 80 kilometers from its last reported location.
The incident caught many by surprise, as the bear would have crossed two major highways on its trek.
The Ministry of Environment’s reaction was self-praising. It said the long-distance travel by the bear proved the success in restoring ecosystems across the country despite major infrastructure that could impede restoration. “This shows the once-disconnected habitats are now connected,” an official said.
Yet, environmentalists insisted the incident rather reveals the flaws in existing policies.
“Mount Jiri has about 3 million visitors per year. People hike, camp, eat food and leave trash. Affected by a shrinking habitat, the bear moved north,” the National Park Conservation Network, a civic group, said in a statement. “The government should reconsider plans to build a cable car and a mountain rail around Mount Jiri.”
Chung In-cheol from the network said government policy is too focused on getting more visitors to the mountains. “Instead, we should create the right environment for the bears to live,” he said.
An activist from Green Korea, an NGO, argued, “This means any of the 47 bears can show up out of the blue anywhere. This raises questions about hikers’ safety.”