Four-Month Intensive Crackdown on Winter Wildlife Poaching and Illegal Trade

Comprehensive Inspections Target Migratory Bird Habitats, Health Supplement Shops, and Hardware Stores
Jeollanam-do Province Imposes Up to Five Years in Prison for Illegal Activities

Jeollanam-do Province will conduct an intensive crackdown on wildlife poaching and illegal trade for four months until March next year. Provided by Jeonnam Province

As winter approaches, Jeollanam-do Province has launched an initiative to eradicate rampant wildlife poaching and illegal trade. The province has announced that it will conduct a joint crackdown involving provincial, city, county, and private sector participation for four months until March next year, with a strong commitment to blocking illegal activities.

This operation involves Jeollanam-do Province, 22 cities and counties, and the Wildlife Management Association. In particular, as concerns grow over the spread of wildlife-borne diseases such as avian influenza (AI) due to winter poaching, the crackdown will also include collecting illegal hunting tools and protecting habitats.

The province will focus inspections on 47 major migratory bird habitats, 49 wildlife protection zones, and 5 ecological landscape conservation areas, all considered vulnerable to poaching. In addition, businesses that handle wildlife products, such as health supplement shops and herbal medicine stores, as well as hardware stores selling poaching tools, will also be targeted by the crackdown.

In fact, in October, a group was caught at a health supplement shop in Naju for illegally capturing, storing, processing, and selling over 1,000 live wild snakes, highlighting the ongoing problem of illegal wildlife trade.

A provincial official stated that they will take strong action in accordance with relevant laws against the storage, distribution, and sale of wildlife, consumption for health purposes, and the manufacture, sale, or installation of illegal hunting tools such as snares and traps. Under the current "Wildlife Protection and Management Act," poaching or illegal trade of endangered wildlife is punishable by up to five years in prison or a fine ranging from 5 million to 50 million won.

Park Seungyoung, Director of Environmental Policy at Jeollanam-do, emphasized, "Winter is the most dangerous season for wildlife survival and also when poaching increases. Please report any illegal activities immediately to the city, county, or environmental hotline."

Even after this intensive crackdown, Jeollanam-do Province plans to continue its wildlife protection policies, including monitoring migratory bird habitats, maintaining a constant enforcement system, and strengthening disease control for avian influenza (AI) and African swine fever (ASF).