The first case of African swine fever (ASF) in Korea was on September 17, 2019, at a pig farm in Paju, Gyeonggi-do.
The day before, on the afternoon of the 18th, when five mother pigs died, the quarantine authorities collected a sample and thoroughly tested it, and it was confirmed as African swine fever.
African swine fever is a type 1 viral infectious disease in livestock.
The fatality rate is 100% enough to be called the swine plague.
There is no preventive vaccine, so preventing the penetration and spread of the virus is the only best prevention.
Fortunately, it is not contagious to humans.
African swine fever has been burning the insides of farmers and quarantine authorities for three years.
Recently, on the 6th of last month, an infection was confirmed at a farm in Inje-gun, Gangwon-do.
A test before going to the slaughterhouse revealed that one mother pig was confirmed.
African swine fever virus is spread through wild boars.
The wild boar movement deterrent has become a fire in the foot.
The government is fighting the war against wild boars by building iron fences to block the movement of wild boars and reducing their numbers through capture operations.
A wide-area fence for blocking wild boars was installed for 1,410 km from Paju, Gyeonggi-do to Goseong, Gangwon.
It was installed as a preventive measure to prevent the spread between regions beyond blocking the area where it occurred.
Mountains and roads, mountains and rivers were suddenly separated by a fence.
In an all-out war to stop the wild boar, sadly, the goat was driven to the threat of survival.
Paths to descending the mountain or moving into the forest in search of water and food were cut off.
Habitat was cut off and fragmented into pieces.
The goat is in danger.
The height of the fence is about 1.5 m.
It is virtually difficult for a goat to jump over.
As a result, unmanned sensor cameras caught the goats approaching in front of the fence and coming back because the road was blocked.
Not only the goats but also the roe deer were blocked by the fence.
Inje, Yanggu, and Hwacheon in Gangwon-do are representative habitats of goats.
The goat is a precious wild animal that is protected as a first-class endangered species and designated as Natural Monument No. 217.
Restoration work is also underway to increase populations and habitats.
However, part of the goat's habitat was destroyed by the impact of the wild boar fence.
According to the Goat Breeding and Restoration Center in Yanggu, Gangwon Province, 19 goats, including 16 last year and 3 this year, died near wild boar fences in Yanggu and Hwacheon alone.
Judging from the lack of trauma, it is presumed that most of them died from starvation or exhaustion because the road was blocked by a fence.
On December 3, last year, a goat was found under a fence for blocking wild boar near Moil Branch School in Hwacheon. Even when rescuers approached, the goat, who sat still, was rescued and treated, but eventually died. Two weeks later, on the 17th, in Woongjin-ri, Yang-gu, Gangwon-do, a goat caught under a fence was rescued, but unfortunately, it did not survive. The soil was dug under the fence, which is presumed to be traces of a goat struggling to escape. Damage caused by traps for catching wild boars also occurred.
On May 7 last year, a goat caught in an ankle trap for catching wild boar was found in Suiri Forest, Yanggu. Fortunately, the goat was rescued quickly and saved, and returned to the forest. If the rescue was delayed, it could only die.
Ahn Jae-yong, director of the Yanggu Goat Breeding Restoration Center, said, "It is difficult to prove clearly, but it seems that the wide-area fence has a direct or indirect effect on the goat mortality. .
At the beginning of last month, the Ministry of Environment and the National Institute of Ecology installed a ladder to help the goats move on a fence in a forest in Inje-gun and started trial operation. An unmanned sensor camera is also installed near the fence to observe the movement of the goat. This is to make sure the goat climbs the ladder and climbs over the fence. Although goats have appeared inside and outside the fence, we have not yet found a case of using a ladder to climb over the fence.
African swine fever, which had spread in Gyeonggi-do, was first introduced to two pig farms in Hwacheon in October last year.
After that, it spread to Goseong, Inje, and Hongcheon in August following Yeongwol in May, and the infection was confirmed at a pig farm in Inje last month.
Seven cases occurred in Gangwon alone.
Yeongwol is located more than 100km south of Yanggu and Hwacheon.
As African swine fever was confirmed here in May, the iron fence for the protection of wild boars in the northern part of Gangwon was extended to the Donghae-Jeongseon-Youngwol-Jecheon-Wonju region.
The wild boar's defense line has come down greatly to the south.
Therefore, experts are arguing that the fences installed in Hwacheon, Yanggu, and Inje areas, which are habitats for goats, should be opened in some sections to open the way for goats to migrate.
It is expected that the ecological pathways of wild animals such as goats and roe deer will be connected if the gates are opened about 2m wide at intervals of 200~300m.
The last 7 days have passed.
Winter has begun, and snow has fallen on Mt. Seorak.
The season of hardship has arrived for the goats.
If it is covered with heavy snow, feeding activities cannot be performed properly.
Moreover, even the fence is blocking it, so the goats moving in search of water and food are inevitably put in danger of their survival.
Do not hesitate and open the mountain goat migration route as soon as possible.
Now is the right time, before it's too late.
Actions must be taken to ensure that no carcasses of goats are found near the wide fence.