Gyeonggi Province Urges Public to Contact Wild Animal Rescue Center When Finding Young Wild Animals

Gyeonggi Province has reported an increase in wild animal rescues as spring arrives, urging the public to contact the Wild Animal Rescue Center for consultation before taking any action if a wild animal is found.

According to Gyeonggi Province on April 30, the number of wild animal rescues due to injury, distress, or illness from January to April this year reached 694 cases, a 21% increase compared to 573 cases during the same period last year.

During April alone, a total of 276 wild animals were rescued, including 207 birds and 69 mammals. The leading cause for rescue among birds was collisions with building glass walls, accounting for 68 cases (24.6%). This was followed by orphaned young animals, with 63 cases (22.8%).

The reason for the increase in rescues from April is that, as the weather warms and the wild animal breeding season begins, there are more reports of flightless fledglings discovered in spring along hiking trails, in parks, or in bushes within apartment complexes, during the "isolation" stage (when young birds leave the nest but are not yet able to fly).

When encountering a flightless young bird or similar animal, it is recommended to call the Wild Animal Rescue Management Center, explain the situation, and seek expert advice rather than attempting to rescue the animal yourself. This is because artificially raising a wild animal may prevent it from learning essential survival skills, making it difficult for the animal to survive in the wild even if it is eventually released after passing through a rescue center.

Wildlife Rescue Awareness Campaign Poster of Gyeonggi Province

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The province also includes information on wild animal rescue-which could amount to unintentional abduction-in its "Wild Animal Ecological Conservation Education" program for children. In addition, Gyeonggi Province is running a campaign called "Proper Rescue of Baby Animals" to help future generations understand the ecological characteristics of wild animals and to encourage reduced human intervention, enabling coexistence with nature.

Jung Bongsoo, Director of Animal Welfare at Gyeonggi Province, stated, "The rapid increase in cases involving the rescue of young wild animals is partly due to the increase in population during the breeding season, but also because ongoing publicity and education efforts have raised awareness of proper response procedures, leading to more reports. However, during the fledgling period, it is important to respond appropriately to the situation rather than resorting to indiscriminate rescue, so we will strengthen public outreach to widely inform residents of the correct response procedures."

For detailed inquiries regarding wild animal rescues and related matters, please contact the Gyeonggi Province Wild Animal Rescue Management Center (Gyeonggi Southern Region: 031-8008-6212, Gyeonggi Northern Region: 031-8030-4451).

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