Daegu Environment Office Discovers Critically Endangered Level 1 ‘Jageun Gwankobatjwi’ Bat in Unmunsan, Cheongdo, Gyeongbuk

Minimum Population Among East Asian Resident Species

Using Forests, Not Caves, as Shelter

The Daegu Regional Environmental Office (Director Choi Jong-won) announced on the 13th that during ecosystem monitoring in the Unmunsan Ecological Landscape Conservation Area in Cheongdo-gun, Gyeongbuk, the presence of the critically endangered wild species level I, the ‘small horseshoe bat (Jageun Gwankobakjwi)’, was confirmed.

The small horseshoe bat had not been confirmed in Korea since 1959, but in 2011, the National Institute of Biological Resources re-verified its habitat in four forest areas including Yonghwasan (Hwacheon, Gangwon) and Sobaeksan (Yeongju, Gyeongbuk). This time, it was additionally confirmed in the Unmunsan Ecological Landscape Conservation Area.

'Jageun Gwankobakjwi', designated as a first-class endangered wild animal.

The small horseshoe bat is the smallest bat species inhabiting East Asia, including Korea, and lives in places where the understory vegetation is well developed in old forests.

In particular, the small horseshoe bat is a species whose exact ecology has not been well known domestically. Unlike typical bats, it does not use caves but is known to live by using natural forest structures such as tree holes, bark crevices, and rock piles in dense forests as shelters.

With the discovery of the small horseshoe bat through this monitoring, the ecological environment of the Unmunsan Ecological Landscape Conservation Area was evaluated to be maintaining excellent naturalness and health. The maintenance of a natural ecological environment is significant in that it sustains diverse shelters and abundant food resources sufficient for the habitat of the small horseshoe bat.

Habitat of the 'Small Leaf-nosed Bat' in Unmunsan, Cheongdo.

Unmunsan was designated as an Ecological Landscape Conservation Area by the Ministry of Environment on September 9, 2010. Since 2011, the Daegu Environmental Office has been conducting ‘Unmunsan Ecosystem Monitoring’ to identify species in the Unmunsan ecosystem and continuously monitor the presence of new species.

Choi Jong-won, Director of the Daegu Regional Environmental Office, said, “We will continue monitoring and conservation efforts to preserve the excellent natural scenery and ecology of the Unmunsan Ecological Landscape Conservation Area.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.