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The number of storks that fly in winter in Korea has increased significantly. The stork is designated as natural monument No. 199.
As a result of simultaneous national monitoring of storks with the support of the Cultural Heritage Administration, Yesan County, Chungcheongnam-do announced on the 21st that the number of confirmed wintering storks in Korea was 105 in November and 90 in December.
This is a significant increase compared to 44 at the time of the moratorium in December 2018 and 60 at the time of monitoring in December last year. A Yesan County official said: “It appears that the number of wintering storks in Korea has doubled compared to two years ago.”
Many storks have been confirmed to live in Gochang, Jeollabuk-do (40), Taean (10) and Yesan (10) in Chungnam. A Yesan County official said: “As storks, carnivorous birds, eat gobies and worms from marshlands, farmed fish, loach and crucians in paddy fields, etc. There are many cases. “
Storks that winter in Korea can be divided into migratory birds and domestic birds. Yesan-gun believes that about half of the storks identified in Korea are migratory storks that flew to Russia and China during the winter, and the rest are domesticated storks.
■ Stork, what kind of bird is it?
Until the 1940s, boneless storks were seen relatively frequently in Korea. Storks usually live in a village with only one partner. This is because storks have a large breeding area. Our ancestors considered storks as spirits. When a stork built a nest in the village, it was considered auspicious. Even when storks breed, villagers often believe that they will get rich.
However, in the 1950s, the number of storks dropped dramatically. The total number of storks declined decisively during the Korean War. Kim Soo-kyung, Principal Investigator at Yesan Stork Park, who studies stork ecology, said: “If you hear testimonies about the stork habitat situation in the past, it seems there were many stork deaths during the Korean War . There were many cases in which the stork disappeared while coming and going ”. Furthermore, the trade in stuffed storks after the Korean War is also attributed to the decline in stork numbers.
In 1971, the last stork, which was thought to have completely disappeared, was discovered in Korea. In April of that year, a pair of storks were last discovered in Eumseong, North Chungcheong province, but three days after the discovery, a male was shot dead and only one female remained. The lonely woman was later rescued after being struck by pesticide poisoning and died in 1994 while living in Seoul Grand Park.
■ By the way, why did the storks increase?
To find this answer, it is necessary to know the efforts of Kyowon University and Yesan Army to save the stork. Kyowon University, near Eumseong-gun, where the stork was last discovered, conducted a study to bring in and breed 38 storks from Russia, Japan and Germany for 10 years from 1996 to 2007 to revive the storks of Korea. Kyowon University raised up to 150 storks and donated 60 of them to Yesan County in 2014. This is because Yesan County, which used to be a breeding ground for storks, was selected as the first restoration area of storks in Korea by the Cultural Heritage Administration.
Yesan, who started reviving storks in earnest, has released 67 storks into the wild from 2015 until recently. Released storks mate in the wild and only 49 individuals were born. Through Yesan County’s efforts, 116 storks were brought into the arms of nature.
Of these, how many storks have survived so far?
As a result of the Yesan County investigation, it was found that 68 (58.6%) survived so far, excluding the dead or missing among the released storks. The white rings are attached to the storks released by Yesan-gun, so you can check the status of the room later. Some storks are also equipped with GPS transmitters that can track their location.
Lee Jong-han, head of Yesan-gun’s stork team, said: “Most of the storks born and released in Korea do not fly to foreign countries like Russia, but settle as domestic birds.” Of course, it has been confirmed that some of the storks released with transmitters traveled to Taiwan (2) or China (2).
Principal Investigator Kim said: “It is estimated that half of the storks identified in recent monitoring, about 50, are domestic storks restored by Yesan.”
The number of storks, which previously did not exist in Korea, is said to have increased significantly.
■ Did the stork, a migratory stork, bring a migratory stork?
I have an other question.
About half of the storks observed in Korea are said to be domestic storks and the other half are migratory storks. The number of migratory storks that visited Korea ranged from 10 to 20, but why did it increase? Migratory storks live in Russia or China, generally descending to Korea from November to December and then returning in late February or early March of the following year.
Experts are cautiously predicting the possibility that migratory storks may have increased as the number of domesticated storks increases, that is, the possibility that migratory storks have been attracted to them.
Lead researcher Kim said: “There is a possibility that the number of migratory storks will naturally increase as the number of storks increases due to continuous radiation.” “However, there are opinions that the number of migratory storks flying from abroad may not have increased significantly,” he said. “In the past, the exact inhabitants of migratory storks were not known. It may have been raised to the level, ”he added.
