During the day, the island of Anma in South Korea is seemingly peaceful, where people live in a village nestled against a rocky coastline and peaks. But after dark, Anma is invaded by herds of deer that destroy crops and damage trees during their nocturnal roams.
People on the island say they have been forced to live behind fences, confined to houses and fields, as the animals outnumber them seven to one. They have all but given up fighting the deer and say their only option now is to cull the herd.
“I’m sorry to say this, but right now we need to get rid of them, which is our intention, even if it means killing them,” said Jang Jin-young, 43, one of the village leaders.
Given that South Korean laws prohibit such efforts, Jang says the government is now considering a petition from villagers to designate the deer as “harmful wildlife” rather than livestock, paving the way for the herd to be reduced by hunting or other measures.
The deer were first introduced to the island around 1985, when three farmers brought about 10, hoping to harvest their antlers, which fall annually and are highly valued in traditional medicine.
Prescribed along with ginseng and medicinal herbs, they are boiled in water to make a traditional medicine, the cost of which increases with the quality and quantity of horn slices in the drink.
But waning interest in these drugs dried up the antler market very quickly after the mid-1980s, leading deer farmers to abandon their animals and move on.
Uncontrolled population growth has led to an explosion in numbers, turning the deer into a menace that plagues the island’s residents. There are now an estimated 1,000 of them, spread across an area slightly larger than Central Park in Manhattan.
“I can’t take it anymore. I would be happy if someone could please catch them and take them away,” said Han Jeong-rye, 80, who works in a vegetable garden surrounded by a 6-foot-high mesh net. The net, however, presents no obstacle to the deer, which jump or tear through and eat all of his crops.
Kang Dae-rin, who runs a deer farm and trades in antlers near the capital Seoul, has made several visits to Anma to assess the island’s potential as a source.
He discovered the deer had a severe tick infestation that made transporting the animals, or their antlers, difficult, and said it was futile to try to sedate the animal.
“It’s impossible to capture them with anesthesia. The deer have already gained immunity and they can all just run away,” Kang said.
Source: CNN Brasil
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