State-run agency opens protection facility for endangered animals

A sulcata tortoise at the CITES Animal Shelter within the compound of the National Institute of Ecology in Seocheon, South Chungcheong Province / Courtesy of the National Institute of Ecology

By Bahk Eun-ji

A state-run agency has opened a facility to protect endangered animals.

The National Institute of Ecology (NIE) said Sunday that the CITES Animal Shelter, located in the NIE's compound in Seocheon County, South Chungcheong Province, recently started caring for endangered animals that were either abandoned by their owners or confiscated after being smuggled into Korea.

A serval wild cat at the CITES Animal Shelter / Courtesy of the National Institute of Ecology

The CITES, or the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, is a multilateral treaty adopted in 1973 to prevent the illegal trading of endangered species and to protect them. Korea joined the convention in 1993.

The shelter, which was built on a 2,162-square-meter site, contains quarantine, rearing and exhibition facilities, and can accommodate up to 580 animals from 140 species.

In September, one red-tailed boa constructor snake and one serval, a species of African wild cat, were moved to the shelter after presumably being abandoned by their owners.

Both are categorized as CITES Annex II species that are threatened with extinction if international trade is not strictly regulated. It is illegal for individuals to keep such animals.

Two sulcata tortoises arrived at the shelter last Friday. They had been illegally obtained by an individual before being confiscated by the regional office of the Ministry of Environment.

A red-tailed boa snake at the CITES Animal Shelter / Courtesy of the National Institute of Ecology

Three Japanese macaques or snow monkeys, which had been illegally reared by an individual in North Gyeongsang Province and protected by the Uljin County Office since last year after confiscation, will be moved to the shelter this month.

Such animals undergo necessary quarantine and health checkup procedures at the shelter and are moved to the rearing space later.

The CITES Animal Shelter building within the compound of the National Institute of Ecology in Seocheon, South Chungcheong Province / Courtesy of the National Institute of Ecology