Co-existence between communities living on the Korean Peninsula and carnivores such as leopards, tigers and black bears, has historically presented many challenges leading to population declines in these species. However, thanks to international treaties such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, as well as economic growth and conservation translocations, the tide is now turning on these declines in South Korea. In this episode, host Harriet McAra is joined by Joshua Elves-Powell to discuss how wildlife trade has impacted carnivores in East Asia, and the conservation measures being taken to protect these globally threatened species.

Overview

00:20 - Introduction to the topic from Harriet McAra, and introduction to the podcast guest

02:24 - Josh Elves-Powell, PhD student at the Institute of Zoology and UCL, introduction and interview

27:06 - Outro and further information

Resources

• If there's a topic you'd like to hear on a future podcast, or if you'd like to share your thoughts, email the ZSL Wild Science Podcast at: [email protected]
• Check out our science and conservation work at: www.zsl.org/Science or www.zsl.org/conservation
• Joshua Elves-Powell: https://www.zsl.org/about-zsl/our-people/joshua-elves-powell
• The latest publication from Joshua Elves-Powell, reporting major declines in South Korean big cat trade: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0299783
• Project Moon Bear: https://en.projectmoonbear.org/Mission
• Korean Tiger and Leopard Conservation Fund: https://blog.naver.com/savetiger
• Blogs written by Joshua Elves-Powell
  • Asiatic black bear restoration in South Korea: https://theconversation.com/south-korea-is-bringing-back-bears-in-a-country-of-52-million-people-i-went-to-find-out-how-164301
  • Moves to end bear farming in South Korea: https://theconversation.com/south-korea-to-ban-bear-farming-but-what-to-do-about-hundreds-of-captive-animals-that-remain-197316

Get in touch

• Email [email protected] with your questions, comments, and thoughts for future episodes!
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