WWF Russia released an Oriental Stork at Yevreyskaya Autonomous Oblast. Credit: WWF Russia

An Oriental Stork, Listed as Endangered by IUCN and as Endangered wildlife species class I in the Republic of Korea, which was rescued and released in Russia in 2020, was found in the Southernmost tip of the Korean Peninsula.

 On January 4, 2021, the National Institute of Ecology under the Ministry of Environment Korea announced that they recently found an Oriental Stork in Haenam, Jeollanam-do of Republic of Korea, which was later confirmed to be an individual released by the WWF Russia branch.

 This special oriental stork was found in a group of migratory waterbirds migrated from Russia. In June 2020, the WWF Russia rescued an exhausted juvenile stork in the Primorsky region of the Russian Far East. After the treatment and recovery at the rehabilitation center, the stork was released at Yebraskaya Autonomous Province in August 2020.

Since then, the researchers of WWF Russia have been monitoring the migrating path of the released stork. After confirming its flyway to the Korean peninsula, they reported to the National Institute of Ecology Korea, which is a joint research effort for the conservation of storks between Korean and Russia.

Original source: https://n.news.naver.com/article/032/0003052162