Calls grow to strengthen wildlife management, protection measures

A 20-year-old lioness rests in a nearby forest after escaping from its cage at a farm in Goryeong, North Gyeongsang Province, Aug. 14. The animal was shot to death by authorities an hour after breaking free from the farm. Courtesy of Gyeongbuk Fire Service Headquarters

By Lee Hae-rin

A series of incidents have occurred in Korea recently where wild animals that were held in captivity were subsequently shot dead after escaping from inadequate cages. This has prompted animal activists and experts here to call on the government to enforce wildlife management and protection measures.

On Aug. 14, a 20-year-old lioness was shot to death by police and hunters at 8:12 a.m., an hour after it escaped from a private tourist animal farm in Goryeong County, North Gyeongsang Province.

The animal broke out of the cage through the door that was accidently left unlocked by its keeper after being fed. The lioness, which spent its entire life in the cage, was found resting in a nearby forest and showed no signs of aggression, but was shot to death due to the potential threat to human life.

This was one of many incidents where wild animals escaped and subsequently were killed this year.

Earlier this month, a couple of chimpanzees escaped from Dalseong Park in Daegu, through a door that was briefly left open while cleaning. One of them was encouraged to go back to the cage by the zookeepers, but the other one died soon after being shot with an anesthetic.

In January, two lion cubs escaped from their cage through a feeding hole at a zoo in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, while a zebra was located roaming around a residential area in Seoul after breaking out of a zoo via a wooden deck that was broken back in March. The animals were brought back to their respective “homes” on the same day as when they had escaped.

In this photo provided by a local resident, a three-year-old zebra named Sero trots in a residential area in eastern Seoul after escaping from a nearby zoo, March 23. Korea Times file

Animal rights groups pointed out that it was natural for these wild animals to escape because they live in species-inappropriate conditions without sufficient supervision.

Lee Hyung-ju, the head of a local animal advocacy group AWARE, told The Korea Times, Monday, that the government failed to regulate wildlife management properly, which led the lioness and other wild animals in inadequate conditions to naturally escape.

“We have seen a cycle of repetitive escapes and deaths of captive wild animals. Now is the time to question and look into the country's wildlife management system,” Lee said.

She explained that the humane and safe capture of wild animals on the loose is also unfeasible due to the lack of government regulation and resources, which encourages officials to make animals who have escaped return to their cages and only recommends killing the animals in the case of danger being present.

This photo shows the cage, where the lioness lived before escaping. Yonhap

The animal care and welfare in these confined facilities often remain unregulated here, as only two out of 114 zoos across the country are certified by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), an American accrediting body for animal exhibitors. Korean law vaguely stipulates and regulates their management, while 48,911 animals of 5,513 species live in 114 zoos across the country as of 2020, according to the Ministry of Environment.

Animal groups are calling for government-led enforcement of wildlife management and protections.

“To prevent another escape and subsequent death of animals, we urge the government to reinforce measures to regulate wild animal management,” the Korean Animal Welfare Association (KAWA) said, calling for the authorities to refine its wildlife capture guidelines with experts to make it more humane and professional.

Project Moon Bear, a civic group that rescues wild bears from bear bile farming and provides them a sanctuary, echoed those sentiments through a statement, urging the government to “scrutinize safety and welfare standards of wildlife management across the country,” as well as to reinforce legislation regarding wildlife management and protection.