10 secretly abandoned, grew to 1,000... The flower deer that became the island's 'strongest'

Anma Island in Yeonggwang County, Jeollanam-do. In the mid to late 1980s, a livestock farmer abandoned about ten spotted deer that he had been raising as livestock here. The spotted deer have been imported from Taiwan and Japan since the 1950s for economic purposes or exhibition. Since then, the population of spotted deer on Anma Island has rapidly increased. This is because they have a high reproductive rate and there are no natural predators on Anma Island. According to the Ministry of Environment, the current population of spotted deer on Anma Island is 937. This density is 23 times higher than the national average habitat density of water deer (7.1 animals per square kilometer), which is 162 animals per square kilometer.

However, in the future, the flower deer will be designated as a protected wild animal and will be subject to management. The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission announced on the 28th that since recommending system improvements in January of last year, the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs plan to implement follow-up measures for the disposal of abandoned livestock. The Ministry of Environment will first announce a partial amendment to the Enforcement Decree and Enforcement Rules of the Act on the Conservation and Management of Wild Animals, including the designation of flower deer as a protected wild animal, for a 40-day public comment period starting today.