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Fauna of South Korea
This article is about wildlife existing in South Korea Peninsula.

South Korea, also known as Republic of Korea is a nation located in East Asia. It is a peninsula with 3 parts of its nation facing the sea; east, west and south. There are numerous wildlife existing in Korean Peninsula. The characteristics of the wild mammals in Korea is that despite South Korea’s small territory, there are many medium and large sized animals. It is natural characteristic that medium and large sized animals require large land and vast amount of food to survive. The characteristic of fauna in South Korea follows the regional aspect that the nation is connected to the wider Eurasian continent, resulting, surviving mammals to also have continental elements.

History
Aristotle primarily divided 'sensitive' biological organisms into animals and 'non-sensitive' biological organisms as plants. Unlike livestock, which have become tamed for at least a few century and have a much different appearance and character to their inhabitants in the wild, wild animals have intrinsic characteristics. People are accustomed to be more familiar to livestock and often know their original form as livestock. But, the difference between the livestock and wild fauna is that livestock evolved in a direction favorable to human, whilst other fauna still consist their wild instinct. To have a clear insight of South Korea's wild fauna, In the case of wolves, unlike dogs that evolved to actively pursue cooperation with humans, they do not show any reliance on humans. The wild version of the pig, the Wild Boar, is larger on average than the pigs used for food, and also has long hair with sharp tusks.

Ecology
Korea is located between 33 ° and 43 ° N, the eastern end of the Eurasian continent. It is rich in precipitation and has various seasonal climate characteristics. In Korea, there are large proportion of areas occupied by mountains, and mainly mountains are distributed in the north and east part of the nation. Large and gentle rivers flow along west and south, and there are various erosion and sediment terrains along the rivers. On the southern coast, there are many islands and complex coastlines, and a wide tideline appears on the west coast. Dunes and lagoons are developed along the monotonous coastline on the east coast.

Yet, Korea is expected to suffer sustain warming and increased precipitation due to climate change. Also, frequent and intense extreme climate is expected. This threats changes in the species throughout the biodiversity and result ecosystem disturbance. 18 species of vertebrates, 28 species of invertebrates, 44 species of plants, and 10 species of fungi and algae are mainly expected to be threaten.

Law
There are a total of 10 laws related to protected areas in Korea. Among the 10 laws, the three laws including the Natural Environment Conservation Act, the Marine Environment Management Act, and the Cultural Properties Protection Act provide general provisions for protection of natural environments and cultural properties. It specifies contents about designation of area. The other seven laws contain the management of the designated area as the main contents, and the provisions for the designation and management of the protected area for the object of preservation are stipulated.

Species
The number of living species in Korea is estimated to be about 100,000 species. So far, 42,756 species have been recorded. Out of whole, 25,453 species have been recorded in the animal family, which comprises 59.5% of the total recorded species. When divided more specifically, 1,936 species are vertebrates, 102 species are resting animals and 23,415 species are invertebrates.

Korea is a peninsula located in Northeast Asia. Ecologically, Baekdu Mountain Alpine Zone and two large rivers isolate the Korean Peninsula from the continent. The Yalu River in the northwest of the Korean Peninsula and the Tumen River in the northeast play a role in limiting the movement of wildlife from China and Russia. Therefore, the isolation by Tuman and Yalu rivers from the Korean Peninsula shows that the percentage of endemic species of freshwater fish and insects to be high. An endemic species refers to a species of organism that lives only in geographically limited areas or countries, and represents species that live only in that area all over the world. Of the 100,000 species currently identified, approximately 10% are believed to be endemic species in Korea. Four species of mammals, four species of algae, five species of amphibians, one species of reptiles and 59 species are known as endemic species in Korea.

Amongst, 246 species of endangered wildlife (Class I and II), there are 166 animal species. Out of 35,569 species of internationally endangered species (Ⅰ, Ⅱ and Ⅲ), there are 5,659 animal species.31 species of wildlife are prohibited from eating, 479 species of wildlife are prohibited from capturing, 568 species of wild animals are prohibited to be exported and licensed. In the case of marine life, 77 kinds of endangered species living in the marine or coastal area and domestic endemics.

In order to preserve endangered species, the Korean Government has designated certain species as natural monuments.

Habitat
Various climatic changes and complex terrain have also contributed to the emergence of diverse ecosystems, which have led to greater biodiversity. Deciduous broad-leaved forests are present in the northern part whereas subalpine coniferous forests are present in the central part. Temperate evergreen forests are present in the south part as well as in the island areas. Characteristics of such forests have resulted different fauna to survive in different regions. On the northern part of the country, where, deciduous broad-leaved forests are present, shrewmouse, rabbits, wolves, fox, tigers and lynx are mostly present. On the central part of the country where subalpine coniferous forests are present, mole, raccoon and wildcat widely exist. On the southern part of the  country, bats, sea lion, dolphins and seal widely exist.

One of the unique aspect of South Korea's fauna environment is that they have a demilitarized zone. Demilitarized zone has been designated as a 2km zone (4km in total) between North and South, centered on the MDL (Military Demarcation Line) since the Korean War. The southern boundary of the Demilitarized Zone is the SLL (Southern Limit Line) and the northern boundary is the NLL (Northern Limit Line). For over 60 years, The area has been strictly forbidden for public activities, preserving natural ecosystems, and attracting attention as Asia's largest protected area. DMZ has the most biodiversity in Korea in terms of distribution of mammals and algae, which is the peak of the natural ecosystem. The largest number of natural monuments and species of endangered species such as bears, foxes, musk deer and other species are present in this region. The DMZ is well developed with rivers and wetlands, and holds a variety of fish species and abundant populations.