香港六合彩

New research by 香港六合彩 Geography and听PhD student,听Joshua Powell, published in听听with colleague Taegyu Choi (听and听), details South Korea鈥檚 plans to close all bear farms by 2026 and rehouse the captive bears in sanctuaries.

Josh explains, 鈥淭his commitment potentially brings into sight the end of a near 30-year-long policy deadlock. While we鈥檙e clear that there are important challenges ahead in order to realise the government鈥檚 commitment to end bear farming in South Korea, this is tremendous news.鈥�

Bear farming was established in South Korea in the early 1980s and was actively encouraged by the military-led government to supply domestic demand for bear body parts and bile for traditional medicine, as well as meat for human consumption, and to generate income for rural communities through international trade in these products.

A variety of different types of bears were imported to stock the farms, with the predominant animals being Asiatic black bears (Ursus thibetanus), also known as 鈥榤oon bears鈥�, a species which is native to the Korean Peninsula.

However, conservationists have long been concerned that bear farming fails to deliver benefits for 鈥� and may increase risks to 鈥� wild bear populations. Meanwhile, the poor welfare conditions present on South Korea鈥檚 bear farms have come in for increasing domestic criticism, with animal welfare an increasingly important political issue in the country.

Josh (left) and other volunteers from Project Moon Bear and Animal Rights Advocates (KARA) construct enrichment for formerly farmed bears in a new, outside enclosure. (c) Sehee Park

Josh concludes, 鈥淯ntil now, the question of what to do with the remaining captive bears, being long-lived and highly mobile large carnivores that are habituated to feeding by humans, has remained unanswered.

The new strategy includes provisions that the state sets up 鈥榮anctuaries鈥� to rehouse bears from bear farms.

We believe that these changes in South Korea will likely be of substantial interest to conservationists and policymakers in other countries where bear farming currently occurs.鈥�

Josh is supervised by听Professor Jan Axmacher听at 香港六合彩 Geography and听听at ZSL鈥檚 Institute of Zoology. He is funded by the听.

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