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I was informed that some of the fences were opened because other wild animals were damaged by the fence installed to prevent African swine fever.

After our report went out, the Ministry of Environment decided not to install any more fences.



Reporter Lee Yong-shik conducted on-site coverage.



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is in a forest in Sangju, Gyeongbuk.



A wild boar is caught in the trap.



I struggle hard, but my feet are tied and I can't escape.



Wild boars are euthanized and brought for sampling.



[Kim Ji-soo / National Institute of Wild Animal Disease Control Researcher: I am going to be tested for African swine fever.

After confirming the result, the corpse is to be disposed of.]



The capture operation continues until the night.



When a drone equipped with a thermal imaging camera is launched, the movement of the wild boar is vividly captured.



From three years before the outbreak of African swine fever until recently, more than 222,000 individuals have been caught in this way, and more than 7,300 wild boars have been found dead.



A fence to block wild boars installed to prevent access to the perimeter of the pig farm also descended to the central inland.



[Kim Dong-ju / National Institute of Ecology Expert: The main purpose is to block the passage of infected individuals.]



The wide-area fence that goes through Gyeonggi-do, Gangwon-do and Chungcheong-do to Gyeongbuk-do is 1,643 km long.



The problem is that the movement of other wild animals like goats and roe deer is also blocked.



As the goats died of starvation, the government, which had part of the fence, decided to stop installing additional fences altogether.



This is because it is judged that the damage to wild animals is greater than the effect of blocking African swine fever.



Instead, it was decided to intensify the capture and search operations to reduce the wild boar population.



The Ministry of Environment is also planning to come up with a management plan, such as opening additional fences or removing them altogether, through research services in the near future.



(Video coverage: Hojun Choi, screen provided: Wildlife Management Association)