Korean patch complete! Survival at max level!
A real wild variety show by novelist and scientist Kwak Jae-sik
K-wildlife stories that were familiar but unknown

Korea is a country richer in nature than you might think.
About 70% of the country is covered with forests, the fourth highest forest ratio among OECD countries.
This shows that despite high population density and rapid urbanization, a variety of wild animals still live and breathe among us.
That's why it's not uncommon to see deer crossing the highway and wild boars coming down to houses.
But how much do we really know about these familiar animals? Perhaps we've only encountered them by chance on a walk or glimpsed them briefly on the news? In reality, they are survivors who have lived and thrived on this land for thousands of years, coexisting with nature and humanity.


『Animal Chronicles of the Eight Provinces』 is a book written by Kwak Jae-sik, a scientist and novelist, that unfolds the hidden stories of wild animals across Korea.
It covers the unique habits and ecology of each animal, its symbolism in folktales, and its socio-cultural significance.
It tells stories that blend science and imagination, including the identity of the monster that predicted the fall of Baekje in the Samguk Sagi, why the hated fox suddenly became endangered, the misunderstandings surrounding squirrels and chipmunks, how raccoons became rabies spreaders, and the Dracula-like life of bats.
The author says, “I wanted to reveal how precious stories of nature are embedded in the everyday spaces we pass by without a second thought.”
Through this book, you will discover a new side of nature that you have never seen before.

When people think of an animal that symbolizes Korea, they usually think of the tiger.
The mascot of the 1988 Seoul Olympics was also a tiger.
However, the last recorded sighting of tigers in South Korea was in the 1920s, and since then, there have been no tigers around us for nearly 100 years.
Nowadays, tigers live in much greater numbers in Russia, China, India, and other places.
In that respect, I believe that the most prosperous goral in Korea is fully qualified to represent Korea today.
--- pp.24~25

Depending on how you look at it, pigs are seen as insignificant animals that only care about food, but in fact, at this very moment, a pig's heart is saving human lives.
As it happens, the Chinese character '심心' ​​in the word '심심' means 'heart', and the English word 'heart' also means 'heart' and 'mind' at the same time.
If you think about it this way, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that pigs are the animals that most scientifically connect with humans.
--- p.48

Foxes were once very common, but their numbers plummeted in just 20 years, from the 1960s to the 1970s.
In the meantime, few people cared about the fox.
This may be because foxes are not considered very cute in Korea.
By 1980, foxes, which had been considered unlucky to be seen just a generation before, were nowhere to be found in the country.
--- pp.74~75

The blue squirrel builds an even more wonderful house.
The blue squirrel builds its nest not underground, but high in the middle of a tree, which is what we would call the royal floor in Korean.
They gather branches together to make a nest-like house, and gently align the inside with leaves or their own fur.
It feels like a house built entirely of wood with a fur carpet as the interior.
In addition, the structure of the Cheongseolmo house is different from that of the new house, so it has a separate entrance.
The entrance is usually made facing south, which also provides good real estate conditions.
Even American ecologist David R.
Patton (David R.
According to Patton's research, squirrels build two to six nests and use them alternately.
The story is that Cheongseolmo is not a household that owns one house, but rather a multi-homeowner who owns up to six houses per household.
--- pp.101~102

Although raccoons are known to hibernate, Korean scholars now report that Korean raccoons rarely fall into deep hibernation.
If raccoons are supposed to hibernate, why don't Korean raccoons hibernate? This also somehow reminds me of Koreans, who suffer from sleep deprivation due to overtime work.
--- p.139

In January 2007, Mr. Pi Jin-ho, the village head of a village in Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province, discovered a flock of golden bats in an abandoned old mine near the village, raising hopes that golden bats might still be present in various parts of Korea.
What is even more impressive is that the place where these bats were discovered happened to be an abandoned gold mine.
In a gold mine that no longer produces gold, a golden bat, as precious as gold, appears.
This is also a wonderful coincidence worthy of the name Golden Bat.
--- p.181

What's interesting is that among the weasels and other animals that mostly live alone and hunt, only the yellow-necked marten, a common civet found in Korea, shows signs of cooperation.
Doesn't this marten, which can be considered the animal of Goguryeo, seem to fit in well with the people of Goguryeo, a multi-ethnic nation where people of various ethnicities coexisted and achieved success?
--- p.198

In a democratic society, everything the government pursues can only be sustained if it receives the interest and support of the people.
Even if it is a business that protects the ecosystem, it is no exception.
So, when an animal with public appeal and symbolism like a bear becomes a protected species, it is inevitable that more resources and attention will be focused on it in terms of policy.
If this had been a business protecting bugs rather than moon bears, it would not have been easy to continue for this long.

--- p.225