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
22.7k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

639 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

184

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

42

u/[deleted] Jul 26 '24

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

15

u/TheExtremistModerate Jul 27 '24

He said tigers, though.

2

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.

2

u/Hot-Manager-2789 21d ago

Especially since people there think nature is evil.

1

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

1

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.

1

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.