hankyoreh

In a broad, reedy field in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, a flock of birds soared around peacefully. In the underbrush, concealed, was a wildcat, Felis bengalensis manchurica Mori, keeping a low profile and fixing its eyes on its prey. But the cat slinked back into the wilderness after several failed attempts to capture a bird in its jaws.

In mid-December, the Hankyoreh visited the field. But it would be a month later before a reporter, hidden in the wetlands, caught sight of the wildcat, an endangered species. It had come out into the open to enjoy the unseasonably warm winter sunshine in early Janunary. It was grooming its yellow-brown fur as if it had just awoken from a long sleep.

The wildcat, designated an endangered species by the Ministry of the Environment, is at the top of the feline food chain in South Korea’s ecosystem, as the tiger, lynx, and leopard have all disappeared. The wildcat looks like an ordinary housecat but has gone through quite a different evolutionary process, making it appear somewhere between a domestic cat and a tiger.

The wildcat was easily spotted before the Korean War. But destruction of its habitat during the war and in the rapid industrialization that followed decates later, along with government-led efforts to root out rats, their main prey, during the 1960s-70s, led to a sharp decrease in the wildcat population.

"The fact that the predatory wild cat survives here means that the ecosystem in this wetland remains healthy," an environmental expert said, adding that measures should be taken to protect the habitat of the endangered animal.

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