“Long ago, when tigers smoked long pipes… ” begin folk tales in South Korea. The stories recall a time at the farthest reaches of living memory when Korean tigers, the world’s largest cats, still prowled the Korean peninsula.
Korea’s national creation myth also tells of a tiger and a bear who asked the son of the ruler of Heaven if he would make them human. He agreed, but only if they could endure 100 days in a cave eating nothing but garlic and mugwort. The steadfast bear endured and became a beautiful woman, who gave birth to Tangun, the legendary father of Korea in 2333 BCE. But the tiger grew hungry and impatient. He left the cave early, unable cope with the hunger and waiting, and has been slinking through the Korean mountains ever since.
That is, until the last century when hunting and habitat loss pushed the Korean tiger over the brink of extinction in the wild in South Korea. With it went an important symbol of Korea’s identity.
“Korea is the only country where the tiger is the centre of its culture,” says Korean artist, Cho Hyun-Kwon. “The people feel very close to the tiger and has personified it throughout history.”
Tragically, the death of Korea’s last wild tiger foreshadowed the end of Korea’s unity. During the tumult of the Japanese occupation, just before the nation was torn in two at the end of the Korean War, the last Korean tiger faded quietly into folklore.
It’s been decades since anyone has seen a tiger in South Korea. The final tiger was captured either in 1922 or in 1944 on the southern tip of the peninsula, depending on whom you ask. But in some places, their ghosts still cast shadows across the landscape. Ribbons of morning mist cut into deep valleys, setting apart the dark mountain ridges one after another like black stripes across the skin of the land; bears, the tiger’s partner in Korea’s creation myth, still wander in some mountains; and autumn’s tawny, dappled hillsides make it especially easy–and slightly unsettling–to imagine the tiger’s presence.
The Korean tiger is the largest tiger subspecies in the world, and the largest living cat aside from the man-made liger. But today, the Korean tiger goes by a different name. It has become better known as the Siberian or Amur tiger since none survive in the South Korean wild and few if any are thought to exist in the most remote North Korean mountains, as shown in the map (left). All the same, a sliver of hope still remains for this mighty tiger subspecies.
Half a century ago, the population of wild Korean, or Amur, tigers dipped to the brink of extinction at a mere 40 animals. Luckily, the survivors possessed enough genetic variety to make a population comeback possible. Their numbers are up substantially now thanks to conservation efforts, largely in Russia. Current estimates place the wild population at 431 to 529 individuals, virtually all living between the far eastern Russian regions of Khabarovsk and Primorsky, which border China and North Korea. It’s a potential conservation success story, but the fate of the world’s largest tiger is still far from certain.
“Wherever people and large carnivores coexist, conflicts between the two are usually inevitable,” says the Wildlife Conservation Society, which has been working in Russia to bring this tiger species back from the brink. “This lesson applies to Amur tigers in the Russian Far East. Livestock depredations and attacks on people, although exceedingly rare, impede conservation efforts. Traditionally, such conflicts were usually resolved by simply killing the tiger. Cumulatively, such deaths represent a significant mortality factor for small populations of endangered species. We have been working closely with a special branch of the Russian government to address such situations and resolve them to protect both the tiger as well as human life and livelihood. If Amur tigers are to survive in the wild, they must coexist with people.”
In South Korea, the folk tales that stir memories of the country’s native tiger also remind listeners of the constant conflict between tigers and humans. In the stories, the tiger, while often gullible, is nevertheless a terrifying and sometimes deceitful beast. But one tale is different. It tells of how the uneasy relationship between tigers and humans was successfully resolved by a change in the way people view tigers.
In the story, when a terrified woodsman is ambushed by a ferocious tiger, the woodsman cleverly bows low to the animal and claims him as a long-lost brother. Confused and touched by the man’s respect and lack of fear, the tiger believes the man. He agrees not only to spare the man’s life, but also to help him to hunt for food from that day on.
This tale may illustrate an oversimplified solution to problem. But today, it is respect–rather than fear or hatred–that conservationists hope will keep the world’s largest tiger on the path to survival.
Resources for bringing the critically endangered Korean, or Amur, tiger back from the brink of extinction
- Write to the US Senate to pass H.R. 1464: Great Cats and Rare Canids Act of 2008.
- Make a donation to AMUR.org.
- Make a donation to the Wildlife Conservation Society.
- Make a donation to help the Amur leopard, which shares a habitat with the Amur tiger and of which there are an estimated 30-35 remaining in the wild, through ALTA Amur Leopard Conservation.
Image credit: Tambako the Jaguar via Flickr, under a Creative Commons license.
luckily they’re trying to clone it tho!
http://amazinganimalnews.blogspot.com/2008/11/tiger-cloning-in-korea-gateway-to-world.html
A bit mean of the son of the ruler of heaven to subject the tiger to a vegetarian diet. No problem for the bear (an omnivore). Nevertheless, this is a fascinating story which illustrates the age old struggle of mankind to reconcile our place in the natural world.
“If Amur tigers are to survive in the wild, they must coexist with people.” – it is this attitude that really bugs me.
Surely it should read – “If Amur tigers are to survive in the wild, people must coexist with the tigers”.
People can live and survive anywhere on the planet – they also have governments that should be protecting them, however this tiger – of which there are only 450 as opposed to the 5 billion people on earth lives in a very small area and still must coeixt with humans. It’s disgraceful. If only tigers could build cities, chop wood and shoot eachother.
Matt, that’s an interesting insight.
I must return to this article to express my pleasure in reading it. The inclusion of the mythology of the Korean people beautifully illustrated the juxtaposition of people’s admiration and longing to have this “beast” among them with their fear of encounter with him. The writing brought me to a place where I could imagine myself walking in that land, seeing the mists and shadows, both fearing and longing to know the tiger lay in those shadows watching me. The article perfectly illustrated mankind’s struggle of concience between our need for our own comfort and safety and the knowledge that we must also find a way to preserve the habitat of all the other beings necessary for the balance of our natural world.
This article is another lie about korea.Come here and see what the Hankooks really believe about animals in general.watch them kick cats & dogs that they see in the streets.Then Go & have a nice bowl of dog or cat soup.The forests are devoid of just about any kind of living animal as they eat everything that crawls or flys. When you watch the korean tv shows you will see such insanity about animals in the korean society at large.They are nothing but play things to them..
Mike’s never been to Korea
Mike,
I’m the author of this piece, and I live in Korea. Clearly, somewhere along the line you’ve seen some Korean people acting differently than you find acceptable. However, because you personally may not find it acceptable doesn’t necessarily make it wrong. More importantly, seeing one or several people acting in a certain way doesn’t mean that everyone in that country behaves similarly.
It is true that a certain breed of dog is used for meat in Korea. It’s also true that some people (myself included) view the method of killing these dogs as inhumane. However, this practice is fading. I know some Koreans who are as appalled at Canada’s seal hunting as some Canadians (and Americans) are at the vanishing tradition of dog meat. Koreans do not eat cats.
I also find that pets tend seem to be treated differently in Korea than they are in North America. The reason for this, according to one very well traveled and well educated Korean acquaintance of mine, is that pets are a relatively new phenomenon in South Korea. It’s only in recent decades that the country’s been wealthy enough to support them. Now that the country’s pretty wealthy, lots of people own dogs. Hamsters are also common and there are some fish, birds, a few cats and even some hedgehogs. Similar to the US, many little kids beg their parents for pet dogs. However, in Korea, dogs tend to live in small dog houses in front of the house. Dogs here tend not to get as much social interaction with people and dog walking is uncommon.
On one of your other points, the forests in Korea are plentiful as are the urban parks. For instance, the park behind my house, though very small, has abundant birds, insects, small mammals, some reptiles and even has occasional large mammals like deer.
Koreans do not eat anything that crawls or flies. There are two species of insect eaten in Korea: grasshoppers and silk worms. But think of the weird things eaten in Europe and North America: snails, frog legs and mouldy, curdled milk (ie. the ‘finer’ cheeses we westerners love).
I was in Korea in the fifties, and I can tell you from my experiences that Koreans on the average, were excited by the prospect of having a pet. I lived in a house owned by a man who worked in a Bank in E Ta Won.The house was located up past the old fire station on the right , towards Ham lam Dong. This man was friend of mine and I helped him build this house. I designed it, and provided the necessary electrical and plumbing fixtures for it. I was going to share half the house, and for this I was to live rent free for as long as I was in Korea.
People, you have to understand that we did things differently back then. I had a friend that was going to the States for vacation and would return in about thirty days. He was a civilian pilot be flying on Military aircraft. I told him bring back a couple of boxer pups, from diffent litters, a male and female and we would start a new fade. Well here he comes one day with not two pups but, four! Two boxers and two tiny poodles. What a hit they made. The Koreans were estatic. The wives of some of these men were plotting and scheming to get a puppy. Well, these dogs had to grow up to mature for breeding. We managed to keep them un-pregant for a whole year. Then the girls and boys went into action. The puppies were born, five Boxers and four Poodles. We had 9 people, some couples and a couple singles, I counted the couples as singles. Six months go by and more puppies on the docket, well you can tell that after two years we had a going concern. I had managed to get a couple more German Shepards in country and that was the worst thing I ever did. People were fighting over them. Parakeets were another wildly popular pet. I can say very proudly that I helped bring much happiness to many a Korean family. They hungered for pets for themselves and their children.
We went back in 1970 and stayed another five years and my wife took two young puppies in her purse and bottle fed them the whole way on North West Orient airlines. Walked right thru customs, never batted an eye, cool woman with the big purse. Our youngest son was five years old and he almost gave it away. But the glare from his mothers eyes soon cooled his tongue.
One day in 1958 I was standing in an alley that led up to the top of E Tae Won, right between the old drug store and the little chinese restaurant. E Tae Won was off limits to soldiers and it didn’t pay even for civilians to be seen there by the MP’s. I was talking with a National Policemen when this man walked up with a young dog under his arm and a long knife in his right hand. We gabbed for a minute and I dertermined that he was going to kill the poor thing and have it for supper. I asked him how much he paid for it and then I offered him double. Took the doggy and he became a mascot for us. It’s hell out there in the world for some folks and it’s really hell out there for the animals, becasue of some folks!
Nice story thanks
Gavin how can some animals look so nice,but be so mean?
save animals
I happen to know for a fact, that there are still tigers living in S. Korea. I saw one with my own eyes. I know it sounds crazy, but it was there, and wouldn’t let us accomplish our mission.