Yes, Pertinax is right. They are Sika deer. Most deer in Korean zoos are Sika deer. And if you see a white deer at a Korean zoo, they are 100% Fallow deer. The Fallow deer in Korean zoos are all white leucistic except for less than five brown deer in Dalseong Park Zoo.
You are right I should rephrase. (Have done so now) Very serious apology to our Korean Zoochat friend. Mea maxima culpa!
Original message @dt644 QUOTE: Yes, Pertinax is right. They are Sika deer. Most deer in Korean zoos are Sika deer. And if you see a white deer at a Korean zoo, they are 100% Fallow deer. The Fallow deer in Korean zoos are all white leucistic except for less than five brown deer in Dalseong Park Zoo. UNQOUTE What subspecies in Korean zoos (Cervus nippon mantchuricus - Korean Peninsula and coastal NE China, provinces Liaoning and Jilin) or the Ussuri sika (C. n. hortulorum - from Heilongjang in PR China north and west into Russia Siberia)? FYI: current sika deer classification and phylogeny. https://www.researchgate.net/public...ion_DNA_sequence_using_an_extended_sample_set
You right. historically, sika deer that inhabit the Korean Peninsula are either Manchuria or Ussuri subspecies. But now there are no wild sika deer in South Korea today. As for the subspecies of sika deer being raised in South Korea today, it cannot be said clearly. Currently, most of the deer in Korean zoos were raised for the purpose of getting antler and meat, which I understand were imported mainly from Japan, but I think it is right to regard virtually almost all sika deer as a hybrid because there have been numerous crossings so far. To write down briefly the history of sika deer breeding in the current todays 'Republic of Korea' except for the history of colony of the Japanese Empire(1910-1945) and Korean War(1950-1953), The Chang-gyung-won zoo, the predecessor of the Seoul Zoo, brought in one male and two female of formosan sika deer from Taiwan in 1957. And in 1966, Zoo raising and increasing the number of deer it brought in at 1957, but a stag that swam down a river from the North Korea side was captured by military men at Oct 03 and sent to Changgyeongwon at Oct 04. That stag was a Manchurian subspecies and was called the "Jayuho", that means "Freedom". Jayuho became the head of Changgyeongwon sika deer with his huge size. Picture of Jayuho, I excerpt this photo from an old Korean newspaper, and the letters next to the photo are as follows: "A cow calf-sized deer who has become a new family member of Changgyungwon." We can be estimated many deer have been born as hybrids in Changgyeongwon since Jayuho came zoo, and according to book about history of the Korean zoo that my own, Changgyeongwon has owned a number of hybrid sika deer since 1969. In addition, ChangKyungwon and Seoul Zoo brought in more other subspecies of sika deer, such as Japanese, Yaku and Ezo suspecies, and perhaps many private deer farms, not zoos, brought deer from various countries. In Korea, deer are legally classified as livestock, and it is common for zoos to buy livestock from farms. So it is virtually impossible to gauge the subspecies of Sika deer in Korean zoos today. As you can see in the case of Jayuho, most of the Korean zoos were not interested in subspecies unless they were related to Amur tigers. The above mentioned small private zoos like Aniland would not even know the meaning of subspecies. In the meantime, South Korean zoos, local governments, and government wildlife restoration facilities have attempted to bring in pure manchurian sika deer through North Korea and foreign countries. But they have not been successful so far because relations with the North have soured or the South Korean government's quarantine measures against ungulates animals are very strict. I have more information about history of deer in korea, but this thread is a thread about bird-of-paradisa, so I'll stop here. If you want more information, contact me separately or open a new thread.
@dt644, thank you very much for your extensive historical review of sika deer in South Korea! A very insightful and informed look at the status of native sika in South Korea. Hopefully before long the South Korean zoo association can resolve to bring pure-bred manphuricus from North Korea or PR China! #@Moderators, can we please move the sika deer discourse to a new thread for deer in South Korea or sika deer?
Good idea I shall do so now. For future note, report the post with the request though - tagging moderators in that fashion doesn't notify us, I just happen to read this thread!
Um, it's been moved to another thread, I will write about the history before the one written above. There were five species of deer lived in Korea peninsula, including the following. Manchurian wapiti Manchurian sika deer or Ussuri sika deer Siberian roe deer Chinese water deer Siberian musk deer Among them, the sika deer are virtually nonexistent in the wild in South Korea, and so are the wapiti. Sometimes wild sika deer are seen, most of whom are exotic species that have escaped from farms or artificially released. So that is feral deer, not real wild deer. Roe deer mainly inhabit Jeju Island, South Korea's largest island, musk deer have very small populations living in Gangwon Province, the most mountainous and rugged area in South Korea. As such, the most common wild deer in Korea today are water deer. Korean deer folk paintings painted in the 19th-20th centuries. In Korea, deer were considered one of the 10 things about long-lived. And the white spots and stripe on back of the deer in this painting indicates that it was painted sika deer. This art is a collection of the National Palace Museum of Korea. Back to the story of sika deer, although the sika deer were extinct in the South korea, but the population wasn't small. Korea also uses Chinese characters, the "鹿"(rock) which means just "almost all of kinds deer" today, but "鹿" meaning only "sika deer" historically in Korea. Joseon, a kingdom that existed on the Korean Peninsula from the 14th to the 20th century, operated a king-sponsored military training system & hunting called "gangmu." In that training, major prey was deer. Records show that dozens to hundreds of deer were caught at one time during the training. The Joseon government required each province to pay tribute to the king. In this tribute, always contain deer meat and leather. For this reason, Joseon's local governments set up and operated farms that artificially raise sika deer, but the number of deer has decreased significantly due to deforestation, continued hunting, and the prevalence of rinderpest, since the 17th century. Records after the Japanese Empire forcibly annexed Joseon to its colony using force(Aug 29 1910) show a significant decrease in sika deer. At that time, Japan did not have a separate conservation policy for wild animals, but designated animals that were banned from hunting, including female sika deer, and in its official record of the number of animals hunted recorded by the Japanese colony government,(1933-1943) 0-21 sika deer were caught each year while more than 2,000 roe deer and water deer were caught. Sika deer at Yankovsky family's Deer Farm. photo's source is here. Despite the situation, there were sika deer farms in the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. A typical example is the deer farm of the Yankovsky(Янковский) family, which used to be Russians living in North Hamgyong Province, and when South Korea gained independence from Japan, the agriculture minister brought deer from North. But as is well known, Korea has split into South and North, and as mentioned above, the South has not been able to properly secure manchurian sika deer. In addition, Changgyeongwon, the forerunner of the Seoul Zoo, was established in 1909 by the Japanese Empire at Changgyeonggung Palace, which was originally Joseon's palace, for undermine the authority of the Joseon royal family, and originally, the zoo had manchurian sika deer and manchuria wapiti, but almost all animals at there died because Japan killed the zoo animals as the threat of defeat in the Pacific War intensified, and most of the surviving animals also died through the Korean War. So I think that old Changgyeongwon deer's bloodline not have been continue. If you have anything you want to know, please ask more. The thread has been separated, so we can talk freely.
As mentioned earlier, the government's wildlife restoration facility plans to bring in and raise Manchurian sika deer, but it has yet to be brought in. So there will be no immediate reintroduce plan. And In the Songnisan National Park, the government plans to capture the all of feral sika deer by 2021, because they are rapidly adapting, risk driving native herbivores out, and their habitat altitude overlaps with the long-tailed goral, an endangered species in Korea that lives in Songnisan National Park. Korea's project to reintroduce endangered species has been successful in Ussuri black bears and red foxes organized by government agencies, but zoos are sluggish. Korean zoos were only interested in collecting more exotic animals and had no concept of protecting korean native animals at all. The Seoul Zoo's release their bred Chinese pond turtles and Seoul frogs may be all that has contributed to the reintroduce and restoration of endangered species by the Korean zoo.
Has the attitude of Korean Zoo Association now changed regarding native deer species and promotion in the country? Would relations between North and South Korea when improved allow for bringing back the Mantchurian sika and wapiti? Do you have any information regarding their status in North Korea at all (I know the country is seriously cut off ..., but perhaps ...)?
More than the Korean Zoo Association...The biggest problem is the attitude Koreans have about zoos. The history of Korean zoos is very deformed. Changgyeongwon, which was mentioned earlier, was the first modern zoo in Korea, but the actual purpose of construction was to lower the status of the Joseon Dynasty, and after leaving the Japanese colony, zoos were built everywhere for the purpose of obscurantist policy of the dictatorship government, and the purpose of showing off of local governments. Most of the current Korean public zoos were created that time, and some of them were problematic because they were built in historical sites like Changgyeongwon. historically, and in Korea today, zoos simply aimed at "collecting" and "viewing" animals rather than "studying" them and "animal welfare", and such rituals still remain with many people. Therefore, many Korean zoos are still bent on collecting exotic and eye-catching animals, and visitors learn nothing from the zoo. They just think about how to bully helpless animals to get up, and also laugh at animals that show stereotyped behavior. Under these circumstances, zoos often do not feel the need to secure, multiply and restore native animals at all. Take sika deer for example, the inter subspecies appearance difference between sika deer is so small that it is hard for ordinary people to recognize, and there are virtually no visitors interested in distinguishing it. In addition, Korea's quarantine system is very strict in importing ungulates animals. But many zoos and farms already have numerous hybrid sika deer, so I think many zoo didn't feels the need to bring in the manchurian sika deer. More precisely, there will be some zoos don't know about deer were lived on the Korean Peninsula. The total manager of Korea's public zoo was often not an animal expert because there were many cases in which just rotation public officials were in charge. So to sum up, most of the Korean zoos are indifferent to distinguishing and securing subspecies unless they are animals close to ethnic sentiment, such as Amur tigers, and It same are visitors. The quarantine system is strict about the import of ungulates animals, but already many hybrid sika deer are readily available in the country, so I think most Korean zoos will not effort to negotiate with overseas zoos to get the manchurian sika deer and also do not look for areas that accept quarantine standards. Maybe they'd think it is better to buy another ungulates animals, such as scimitar oryx, gnu, and many kinds of antelopes and gazelles at that cost and effort. As I wrote it down, the content grew longer. So I will write down the answer of the second question separately.
I will write about the situation of sika deer in North Korea. First of all, the fur-covered, soft deer antlers not long after they grew up in spring are treated as valuable medicines in Korea, which are called "nokyong". Deer farms in South Korea exist to mainly collect this nokyong. This situation is the same for North Korea. In particular, facilities have been set up to grow all kinds of medicinal animals and plants to keep their supreme leaders healthy, and deer are also being raised. You can see deer raised in North Korea from 36 seconds into this video. Nokyong that collected from grazed deer are treated as high-quality, and the reason for grazing deer in the video seems to be the same. The video mentions that wild deer come up to breed deer after grazing them, and that they are studying artificial insemination of deer and banning deer hunting in North Korea. Although there is no clear evidence that farm deer are real manchurian sika deer, the defector's from north korea testimony suggests that north korea have been caught wild deer for farm breeding. So I think there is a possibility that they are manchurian sika deer. It is hard for me to clearly explain the existence of wild deer in North Korea. Because it borders Russia and China, deer in the region will be able to come over, and while earlier videos uploaded mentioned that wild deer hang out with breeding deer, I don't fully trust the North's words. North Korea is already suffering from a huge famine, and its natural environment will also be somewhat deformed by starving people's wildlife hunting and deforestation. But North Korea has designated sika deer living in certain parts of its country as protected species. So, in general, we can think that there will be wild sika deer in North Korea for now. Sika deer at Mangyongdae Zoo. Photo collection of North Korea Human Geography. Sika deer at Chongjin Zoo. Photo collection of North Korea Human Geography. And about the zoo, I confirmed that there was a sika deer in Mangyongdae Zoo, which is believed to be located in Mangyongdae, Kim Il Sung's hometown. And I confirmed little unknown zoos in North Korea also has sika deer. However, it is not clear whether they are Manchurian sika deer. A South Korean news video that also reported white deer at Pyongyang Zoo, along with a photo of a white fox on Mt. Baekdu in 2014. You can see photo of that white deer from 1 minute 29 seconds into this video. Photo of Pyongyang Zoo's white deer. photo's source is here. And I think there could be sika deer in the most famous and biggest North's zoo, the Korean Central Zoo and the so-called Pyongyang Zoo, but I didn't find information about the sika deer there. at But I can find one piece of information about deer at there, Pyongyang zoo told they has captured and breed white deer from baekdu mountain, it was also reported in south korean news but I couldn't believe their story. Mt. Baekdu and the white animals have a belief that they have spiritual power in both of Korea, and especially the Kim family, the North's supreme leaders, calls their lineage "the Baekdu bloodline." So, "a white deer caught from Mt. Baekdu?" I think it would be a perfect propaganda story. I came to focus on sika deer rather than wapiti, I think it's because sika deer are the mainstream deer at bred. For now, I will write this much about the deer in North Korea, and as soon as find more information about the wapiti later.
I looked for about north korea's wapiti, but I couldn't find any information on North Korea's wapiti at present. Based on historical records, wapiti is known to have disappeared from the Korean Peninsula since the mid-Joseon Dynasty, so I think there is still virtually no wild wapiti on the Korean Peninsula. Next, as mentioned in the conversation with Kifaru Bwana, I will explain South Korea's laws on the import of ungulates animals. As mentioned several times above, Korea has very strict standards for the import of ungulates animals, which is why there are very few types of antelope and gazelle in South Korean zoos. So, before explaining the bill, based on the data I had about the Korean zoo, I write this list of foreign ungulates animals at Korean zoo. The ungulates animal species that in the Korean zoo but disappeared today. Yak Rocky mountain goat Bighorn sheep Markhor Moose Reindeer Axis deer Black-tailed gnu Greater Kudu Springbok Water buck Nyala Sitatunga Addax Dama gazelle Dorcas gazelle Roan antelope Red hartebeest Nilgai Saiga antelope The ungulates animal species that in the Korean zoo today Hybrid giraffe Hippo Pygmy hippo Common eland Scimitar oryx Gemsbok Sable antelope Asiatic buffalo African buffalo Ankole-Watusi American bison European bison Bactrian camel Arabian camel Llama Guanaco Alpaca Many subspecies and hybrid of sika deer(Japan, Yaku, Yezo, Formosan, Manchurian...) Wapiti, probably most of them from Canada Red deer Fallow deer Hog deer Barasingha Père David's Deer Sambar deer Barbary sheep Dall sheep Mouflon Alpine ibex Himalayan tahr Collared peccary Many kinds of domestic cow, pig, goat and sheep Most of all the "ungulates animals that disappeared in korean zoos" in the list were brought in by the Seoul Zoo's opening in 1984, but they were end of breed because difficulties in import in additional animals. public Zoos other than Seoul Zoo preferred to pick up animals from large zoos in Korea rather than from abroad zoo, which is why the most of Korean zoo now has similar species and many animal species have become close bloodline. Originally, it was virtually impossible to import ungulates animals for zoo, but big korean zoos were demanded a revision of the law, so creating importable standards. since 2016. Now I'll write down the South Korea's laws on the import of ungulates animals in earnest. I'll write down the key points, and The term 'area' herein refers to the highest level of local administrative units in each "state" or "province." No.1: The conditions of birth and raising of animals exported Animals exported must be raised in the exporting country at least six months before they are exported. No.2: The conditions of areas where animals are exported. The Swine fever, Foot-and-Mouth disease must not occur in that area until a year before the export. The Vesicular Stomatitis, Swine Vesicular, Rinderpest, CBPP must not occur in that area until two years before the export. The Bluetongue disease, PPR, ASF, Sheeppox, Lumpy Skin disease must not occur in that area until three years before the export. The Rift Valley fever must not occur in that area until four years before the export. In addition, vaccination against the above diseases should not be performed, but the above criteria may apply differently depending on animal species. No.3: The conditions of zoos that exporting animals In the a zoo that breeds animals to export, the Anthrax, Brucellosis, Tuberculosis, Rabies, CWD, Johne's disease, Aujeszky's disease must not occur until three years before the date on which export quarantine for exported animals. In the a zoo that breeds animals to export, the BSE and Scrapie must not occur until five years before the date on which export quarantine for exported animals. Also, zoos that breed such animals to be exported should not be located in areas restricted by the government of the exporting country for livestock quarantine. But the above criteria may apply differently depending on animal species. No.4: Export quarantine Animals exported shall be quarantined for 30 days and quarantined by veterinarians of the exporting country and shall not be in contact with animals that are not exported during quarantine. Animals exported should undergo clinical tests conducted by veterinarians approved by the governments of the exporting countries during the quarantine process, and there should be no clinical symptoms of livestock infectious diseases. Animals exported should undergo a thorough examination of Tuberculosis, Brucellosis and Aujeszky's disease and the results must be negative. However, the above inspection may be exempted if the government of the exporting country can prove that there was no clinical abnormality from the time the export animal was born or at least six months before it was exported. The Korean government can request a thorough inspection of certain livestock diseases for animals exported in consideration of the situation of livestock epidemics in exporting countries. During the export quarantine period, export quarantine facilities shall be restricted from entering by persons other than those designated by the government of the exporting country. During the period of export quarantine, the government of the exporting country shall manage the exported animals didn't contact with parasites, vampires, rodents, etc., and prescribe drugs, if necessary. No.5: Animal transport The export quarantine facilities, and the transport boxes, vehicles, ships and aircraft used for the transport of animals exported shall be disinfected with disinfectants recognized by the government of the exporting country before use, and the animals exported shall be transported in a safe manner for livestock quarantine. The hay, straw and feed used during the export quarantine period or in the transport of animals exported shall be equipped with clean things not contaminated with pathogens of livestock disease in export quarantine facilities before export quarantine, and shall not be additionally purchased during the transport of animals exporting them. Animals exported to Korea should not pass through areas where the Korean government does not allow imports of ungulates animals during transport. However, the exception is to simply stop for reasons such as refueling, etc., but there should be no risk of contamination of the disease pathogens. After texts of this contents is specified that importers must issue and submit certificates before transporting animals, and if they do not meet the standards, they can return the imported animals or dispose of them. I don't know much about animal import laws in other countries, but I think Korean laws are quite hard-line. But I think it is some worthy because this law are aimed at preventing livestock epidemics. However, it will be difficult to bring in Manchuria sika deer from foreign zoos while meeting the requirements of this law.
I will add the Black buck to the list of "Unulates animal specs that in the Korean zoo but disappeared today." I clearly wrote it down, but it seems to have been omitted by changing the position of the paragraph.
Add the Blesbok to the list of "The ungulates animal species that in the Korean zoo but disappeared today." It's not that important, but I could find a missing species on the list. I will also write about manchrian wapiti in Korea, because it seems like there is not much to talk about this and it is difficult to talk about this in other thread. As we all know, wapiti is a large sized deer, so on the old Korean called wapiti a "daerock,"(大鹿) meaning "big deer," And today in South Korea, manchurian wapiti is mostly called "Baekdu-san-saseum ," meaning "baekdu mountain deer." This name is called Manchurian wapiti only. Foreign wapiti raised on deer farms and zoos in South Korea are just called "elk" or "wapiti." A mural painted on a "muyong chong," a tomb site of Goguryeo, a kingdom that existed in the northern part of the Korean Peninsula and northeastern China from the B.C. 1st to 7th centuries. muyong chong is located in china Jilin Province today, the deer in the upper left is believed to have depicted wapiti in that it has a large size and a pair of male and female. The Korean Peninsula is home to many mountains, but Wapiti was so inhabited throughout the Korean Peninsula that there was a record that soldiers stationed in the southern part of the peninsula occasionally hunted Wapiti and offered the leather to the king in 1408. Thus, the leather and meat of the wapiti, like those of sika deer, were tribute to the king, but the number of wapiti began to decline sharply due to excessive hunting and reclamation, so the Joseon government exempted offering wapiti-related tribute for five years after several provinces complained it was difficult to hunt wapiti from the beginning of the 16th century. Record said that in the 16th century, only the northern part of the Korean Peninsula, adjacent to the Manchurian region, was able to hunt wapiti. Therefore, it is recorded that Joseon's provinces at that time failed to prepare their own warpiti-related offerings, so they bought them in such northern regions and offered them to the king. As mentioned earlier, in the 17th century, rinderpest swept across the Korean Peninsula, which is believed to have led to a significant decrease in the number of deer. Sika deer was small in size and lived in groups, so it would have been easy to raise on farms, but I think wapiti seemed too big to breed. There is no particular record of the farms that raised the wapiti, and in the end, wapiti has virtually become a very rare animal on the Korean Peninsula. Of course, wapiti seems to have been caught in the northern part of the Korean Peninsula since then, but I'm not sure about the details. It is also unclear whether wild wapiti currently live in North Korea, as mentioned earlier. The scene of chasing an escaped wapiti on the highway in south korea. The source is this 2008 news. And in South Korea, wapiti in farm were occasional escapes, but firefighters capture them as soon as they receive reports. maybe wapiti were classified as dangerous animals in korea, because of their size. Therefore, unlike sika deer, I think there is virtually no feral wapiti in South Korea.
Thank you dt644 for another review of history of deer in Korea and in particular the Manchurian wapiti in South Korea. It will be interesting to see whether the current status quo on threatened native deer species can be changed into one of restoration in due course. You have a new Government now which might be more environmental friendly and perhaps it is time for more awareness of environment in the educational system and wider society. Secondly, reading through the import/export laws, I think in the interest of endangered species zoos and ex situ captive-breeding and national as well as NGO's should work towards getting the wildlife protection and import/export vet laws changed. What are your thoughts on this?
