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▲ Panoramic view of Cheongdo
They are suffering from a herd of black goats in Cheongdo, an island attached to Chuja Island in Jeju.
This is because black goats appear en masse, raising concerns that island restoration will be difficult.
According to the Yeongsan River Basin Environmental Office (hereinafter Yeongsan Environmental Office) on the 6th, about 30 black goats were confirmed in Cheongdo, Shinyang-ri, Chuja-myeon, Jeju-si in September last year.
Cheongdo is an uninhabited island located 10 minutes away from Chujado Island in Jeju by boat.
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▲ ‘Cheongdo’, an island attached to Chuja Island above Jeju Island
When designated as a specific island, various development activities, as well as livestock grazing, capturing and bringing in wild animals, and collecting wild plants are prohibited.
A herd of black goats was first discovered in Qingdao in 2008.
According to the Yeongsan Environment Agency, it is believed that at the time, local residents of the island brought it in for profit and then grazed it on an uninhabited island.
The problem is that black goats are threatening the ecosystem of the island region.
In fact, because of the characteristic that goats damage the surrounding vegetation, soil, landscape and root bark of trees, the National Institute of Environmental Research classifies goats in island areas as 'Ecosystem Risk Assessment Result' Class 2, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) 100 It is designated as a major malignant alien species.
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▲ Grazing Black Goat
As a result, the Yeongsan Environment Agency started the 'Black Goat Capture Operation' in earnest.
An official from the Yeongsan Environmental Office said, "If the current state is maintained, the species diversity of plants and animals may significantly decrease due to the increase in the population, and it may become difficult to restore the ecosystem in the future." explained.
This is not the first time that a black goat has been captured and captured in Qingdao.
In the past, guns were used to capture them, but they still do not disappear easily.
The herd of black goats discovered this time is estimated to have been bred by individuals that could not be captured or killed in 2020.
This year, we plan to capture them alive using a 'GPS Capture Trap' rather than a gun.
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▲ Capture trap (left), bibimmok (trap) installation (right)
An official from the Yeongsan Environmental Office said, "We plan to use drones to catch them alive with nets after driving them, and we plan to capture the remaining objects after confirming their location with a thermal imaging camera."
On the other hand, goats are endangered to the ecosystem of island regions and are designated as level 2 as a result of the ecosystem risk assessment in accordance with Article 21-2 (risk assessment) of the 「Act on the Conservation and Use of Biodiversity」.
(Photo = Provided by Yeongsan Environmental Office, Google Maps)