By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
Black bears living in the southern mountains are having sleeping problems due to too mild weather.
Many of the Asiatic black bears inhabiting Mount Jiri in the southern part of the peninsula have not gone into hibernation yet due to high winter temperatures, according to the Korea National Park Service Wednesday.
``Among 16 bears in the mountain, 11 are still out and about. Their movement radius has decreased which usually happens before bears enter into hibernation, but they are still moving around, searching for food,’’ an official of the agency said.
In the 2005-2006 winter season, all of the bears in Mount Jiri had gone into hibernation by Jan. 11 of 2006, while in the 2006-2007 season, they did so by Dec. 23 of the same year.
``We presume the delay is due to unusually warm weather. It has been a mild winter and it has snowed less than usual,’’ he said.
The average temperature in December last year was 1.5 degrees Celsius, higher than 2005’s minus 3.1 degrees and 2006’s 0.8 degrees. The lowest temperature in the mountainous region last month was also minus 3.5 degrees, much higher than the minus 9 degrees in 2005 and the minus 4.4 degrees in 2006.
Since 2004, the national park management agency has put 26 Asiatic black bears, famous for their V-shaped white pattern on their chests, on the mountain in an effort to restore the endangered species. Ten among them died, went missing or were returned to the agency, and the remaining 16 are still living there.
In the meantime, a male bear named Janggun died last Saturday, the park agency said. Janggun who was first put on Mount Jiri in 2001 in a pilot program and was withdrawn in 2004, has been kept at the agency’s Species Restoration Center in Gurye in South Jeolla Province.
``We gave the bear emergency treatment but he died. We suspect it was a natural death from metabolic trouble, and are examining the exact cause,’’ the official said.