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I once told you that among the freshwater clams, 'Earthroat', which is a first-class endangered species, lives in concrete agricultural waterways with poor habitat conditions.

The National Institute of Ecology and local governments belatedly embarked on the task of relocating the habitat.



This is reporter Lee Yong-sik.



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A long agricultural canal that supplies water to the rice fields runs through the vast farmland.



It is a large waterway with a width of about 10m, and the walls and floor are made of concrete.



You can see clams the size of an adult's palm on the bottom of the pond.



It is a large freshwater clam that is about 30 cm when fully grown, and is a first-class endangered species, 'symmetrical ear tooth'.



After the rice harvest is over, water is almost cut off in agricultural waterways in winter, and the ice freezes, making it difficult for the symmetrical ear teeth to survive.



The mud bottom in the deep water of a river or lake is the best environment for habitat, but living in a concrete agricultural waterway led to the discovery of dead bodies with only empty shells.



It is estimated to have flowed in along with fish from a reservoir about 5 km above the agricultural waterway.



[Kim Jin-young/Researcher at Center for Endangered Species Restoration: Tooth-tooth chinensis goes through the parasitic stage from the larval stage, and moves by attaching to the fins, gills, and skin of fish.



] The Ecology Institute conducted a field investigation, and Gunsan City and the Rural Community Corporation decided to move the tooth-symmetrical teeth back to the reservoir.



The section of the concrete agricultural canal where the symmetric ear teeth were found reached 12 km.



[Ko Yeong-gwang/Gunsan City Ecology and Environment Director: Gunsan City and the Rural Community Corporation plan to continuously collect and move to a safe place until farming begins next March.]



On the first day of the rescue operation alone, 56 auricles with asymmetric ear teeth were found .

It was captured and moved to a reservoir, and we plan to check whether it adapts well to the new habitat environment.



(Video coverage: Hojun Choi)