First discussions on Amur leopard conservation in Korea

UCL and ZSL Institute of Zoology PhD student, Joshua Powell, was invited to present at the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea, the legislature of South Korea, earlier this year about leopard (Panthera pardus) occurrence in human-dominated landscapes, as part of a parliamentary event on the potential for Amur leopard (P. p. orientalis) conservation on the Korean Peninsula. The event was sponsored by South Korea’s Ministry of Environment and the National Institute of Ecology. 

Image: Joshua Powell speaking at the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea

The Amur leopard is one of several big cats native to the Korean Peninsula. The last few individuals managed to persist in one of South Korea’s major wilderness areas until 1970. However, Joshua's work with colleagues at UCL, ZSL and the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), published last year in Frontiers in Conservation Science, showed that up until the 20th Century, Amur leopards in Korea (then a single country) lived in close proximity to the country’s human inhabitants. Indeed, some leopards even ventured into Seoul, the national capital. 

In recent years, South Korea has made great strides in attempting to restore several of the country’s native mammals, with conservation reintroduction and reinforcement programmes for the Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus), red fox (Vulpes vulpes) and long-tailed goral (Naemorhedus caudatus). However, to date there has been little focus on the Amur leopard, now globally considered to be Critically Endangered, and the Amur tiger (Panthera tigris tigris), which is the national animal of South Korea but was also extirpated in the 20th Century. There is now interest among some conservationists and policy makers in how the Korean Peninsula could support global tiger and leopard conservation. 

During his PhD, Joshua has been a visiting research student at Seoul National University's College of Veterinary Medicine and he is currently a visiting researcher at the Tiger and Leopard Conservation Fund in Korea (KTLCF). Joshua’s PhD at UCL and ZSL’s Institute of Zoology is funded by the London NERC DTP.

Further information:

• Tiger and Leopard Conservation Fun in Korea (KTLCF) - https://blog.naver.com/savetiger
• You can read more in Josh's recent paper with Professor Jan Axmacher (UCL Geography) and colleagues at ZSL’s Institute of Zoology and the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA)) on Amur leopards in the history of urban Seoul, here, in Frontiers in Conservation Science.
• Read more about South Korea’s conservation of large carnivores, here, with The Conversation.
• UCL Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment (GEE)

Contact:

• Joshua Powell – joshua.powell.19@ucl.ac.uk
• Instagram - @joshuapowell_official
• LinkedIn – Joshua Powell