Wildcats Return to Mt. Bukhan, Seoul

Kim Seong-cheol, 45, who does not want to identify his real name, is self-employed and living in Gaepo-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. He cannot forget the thing he encountered in Mt. Bukhan in Seoul this past August.

Mr. Kim fell asleep after climbing on a ridge in the mountain, pitching a tent and having a simple meal. But he woke up on hearing a crunching sound outside the tent. Slightly opening the tent window, he was stunned. A big object was eating his leftovers.

“I could hardly discern it in the moonlight but I could see that its size was as big as a meter. When it sensed someone near, he quickly disappeared into the forest. The gleaming eyes were really scary.”

The object was a wildcat, which was designated by the Ministry of Environment as an animal in danger of extinction.

Lee Jeong-woo, professor of applied zoology at Sahmyook University, said, “Several wildcats have been known to live on Mt. Bukhan.”

Although wildcats could be easily seen as late as 1950s, most of them disappeared from cities due to forest degradation after development. But some of them still live in Seoul.

4,000 Species have lived in Seoul for 58 years –

This paper analyzed 60 documents on inhabitation of plants and animals, including Plants in Namsan, published in Gyeonggi Middle School in 1948, Study on Animals around the Han River (1984) and Study on the Ecosystem in Namsan Park and Ways to Manage It (2006), with the cooperation of the Seoul Metropolitan Government for the past three months. This is the first comprehensive analysis that studied plants and animals in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province for the last 58 years.

The result showed that a total of 4,016 types of creatures lived in the region, including 1,895 kinds of insects, 1,794 plants, 205 birds, 63 fish, 31 mammals and 28 amphibious and reptiles between 1948 and 2006.

Gu A-mi, head of the Nature and Resources Team in the Seoul Government, said, “The studies excluded fungi like mushrooms, lichens and several kinds of insects. When they are added to the list, approximately 5,000 types of creatures are estimated to have lived in Seoul in the same period.”

Han River and Mt. Bukhan, Treasure Houses of the Ecosystem –

According to the analysis, the Han River and the surrounding area including Anyang and Junglang Streams have been home to the most number of species in Korea. A total of 2,582 types of creatures, including 1,541 kinds of insects, were recorded to have lived in the region.

Hawks, a first grade endangered animal, seem to live around the Han River since they were observed on Bam Island in the river near World Cup Park and Anyang Stream.

Mt. Bukhan, home to 1,886 types of species, is a treasure house of the ecosystem of Seoul. Eighteen types, nearly a half of the 37 first and second grade endangered creatures, including wildcats, live in the mountain.

Have you seen a roe deer in Mt. Bukak? –

Thanks to the long period of ban on climbing, Mt. Bukak (Baekak) is now a habitat of roe deer. Part of the mountain, located near Cheong Wa Dae, is currently open to hikers.

Badgers once lived in Mt. Gwanak and Mt. Cheonggye, weasels in Yangjae Stream, Mt. Cheonggye, Mt. Bulam, Tan Stream, lower part of the Han River, and Nanji Island, and hedgehogs in Mt. Bukak, Mt. Inwang, Mt. Bukhan.

The Seoul Government plans to establish a database of plants and animals in Seoul and publish an ecosystem map in the first half of next year after studying on the number of species currently living in the city out of the recorded 4,000.

beetlez@donga.com