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| From top, a wildcat, a fairy pitta, an otter, a water deer, a badger and a mink were spotted by the same hidden camera near a reservoir in Mount Wolchul National Park in Yeongam County, South Jeolla Province, between May and June. Courtesy of Korea National Park Service |
By Ko Dong-hwan
The Ministry of Environment has captured what it called "extremely rare" sightings of three endangered species by the same camera in less than a month at a national park in South Jeolla Province.
The species were an otter, a fairy pitta bird and a wildcat. Otters in Korea are classified as a Level 1 endangered species, facing the most imminent threat of extinction. The other two are listed as second-level endangered species.
The three animals were caught by a hidden camera near a reservoir in Mount Wolchul National Park in the province's Yeongam County. The wildcat was spotted May 15; the fairy pitta, May 29; and the otter, June 2.
The Korea National Park Service (KNPS), under the ministry, which had set up the camera to monitor wild animals on the mountain, said Monday that the location where the three endangered species were spotted is where a reservoir meets a forest, providing rich sources of water and food for the wild species.
According to the agency, the national park is 56.22 square kilometers in size, which is comparatively smaller than other national parks in the country, but has a variety of wild species. The KNPS said the hidden camera that caught the three endangered species had also captured sightings of a badger, a mink and a water deer passing by in May and June this year.
Twenty-seven wild species classified as endangered here were confirmed to be living on the mountain as of Dec. 31, 2020, according to the agency. They are the Level 1 otter and copper-winged bat, and at the second level, one fish, two plants, three mammals, three amphibians, four insects and 12 birds.
The Mount Wolchul National Park Office Chief Moon Gwang-seon said the KNPS will study reservoirs and wetlands inside the park more thoroughly in the near future to conserve the habitats for endangered species and improve the environment's ecology.
