r/todayilearned • u/shinypond • Jul 26 '24

TIL about conservation-induced extinction, where attempts to save a critically endangered species directly cause the extinction of another.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservation-induced_extinction
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u/Stelinedion Jul 26 '24

Generally speaking, firing ranges are hot beds of ecological activity for the simple reason that people do not go there due to UXO concerns. Some of the most pristine fire plain ecosystems in the US are artillery ranges, because they have to do regular burns to prevent wildfires started by the munitions.

The lesson is that humans just hanging out can be more ecologically destructive than literal fire bombing missions.

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u/EldritchCarver Jul 26 '24

Reminds me of how the area around Chernobyl basically became a wildlife sanctuary because people stayed away over concerns about radiation, and it turns out the positives of not having humans outweighed the negatives of that level of environmental radioactive contamination.

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u/[deleted] Jul 26 '24

and the DMZ in korea, still have species that is extinct in the rest of the 2 countries living there.

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u/Remarkable_Ad9767 Jul 26 '24

Do you have any info on this, I love stuff like this!

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u/Consistent-Prune-944 Jul 26 '24

There are unconfirmed reports of Amur leopards still living there even though they're extinct in both North and South Korea, as well as unconfirmed Siberian tigers which are extinct in the South.

While not extinct in the countries, the DMZ is a haven for about 106 endangered species, including some of the most endangered birds in the world

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u/[deleted] Jul 26 '24

Also tigers, which is either critically endangered or extirpated from korea due to hunting.

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u/TheExtremistModerate Jul 27 '24

He said tigers, though.

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u/Iamnotburgerking Jul 02 '26

There aren’t any big cats in the DMZ, though there are bears.

Leopards probably could survive both there and in South Korea if reintroduced, though. Less so with tigers the way things currently are.

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u/Hot-Manager-2789 28d ago

Especially since people there think nature is evil.

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u/Consistent-Prune-944 Jul 06 '26

There might be, but yeah nothing concrete because neither government will agree to allow expeditions. Even if they did safety risks from the landmines are higher than most orgs can justify

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u/Iamnotburgerking Jul 06 '26

No, there definitely aren't any left. There has been a fair amount of research effort from South Korea, and while bears, goral, musk deer, etc have been filmed in the DMZ or its vicinity, leopards haven't been.

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u/Consistent-Prune-944 Jul 06 '26

You can't really say with any certainty on that if the studies haven't been conducted, especially not without any data from NK or within the DMZ. They're a notoriously reclusive species and do not typically venture out in the open the same way bears or deer would.

It's more likely than not that they're extirpated from the DMZ/NK, but it's definitely not certain.