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I have told the story of a black bear in Mt. Jiris several times. Black bears were imported from Russia for their genetic diversity, but it was confirmed that they were not emitting properly.
Reporter Lee Yong-shik covered the story.
<Reporter> It
is in a forest in Mt. Jirisan.
A black moon bear wanders around looking for food, and even climbs a tree to play.
These three males and one female are wild bears imported from Russia in early December last year.
The black moon bears who had stayed at the wild release training ground moved to the breeding and ecological education bears around the middle of last month.
The Ministry of Environment originally brought them in for wild release, but it was decided not to release them due to the fierce competition for food because there were already many black bears in Mt. Jiri.
During the review, a year passed and the release time was also missed, and in the end, it was used as a breeding bear.
[Jang Jeong-jae/Director of the Southern Conservation Center of the National Parks Corporation: When the black bear becomes an adult at about 4 to 5 years old, it can participate in breeding from that point.] The
introduction of the black bear in Russia started in 2016, and 11 animals were brought in by 2019. was mostly emitted to Mt. Jirisan.
Currently, the number of black moon bears in Mt. Jiris is 74, and some experts say that additional release is desirable.
After the first release in 2004, they were born up to the fourth generation, descendants of the grandson bear, and they need another individual for genetic diversity.
[Han Sang-hoon / Director of the Korean Peninsula Wildlife Research Institute: Because it is scientifically confirmed that phenomena that cause problems for the survival of the species occur when inbreeding...
.] As the
wild bear release plan creaks as a clumsy plan, there are concerns that the related Baekdudaegan black bear restoration project will also be disrupted.
(Video coverage: Hojun Choi)