Posted on : Oct.2,2006 15:09 KST
Ahead of opening, center already has 50 patients
A veterinary hospital specializing in the treatment of wild animals is set to open at Kangwon National University; it will be the first of its kind in South Korea.
The ‘Wild Animal Rescue Center’ is equipped with a radiograph camera, a respirator, a supersonic wave diagnosis machine, and equipment for performing endoscopies. The hospital covers about 2,000 pyeong (6,600 sq. m.).
Ahead of an official opening, the hospital is already housing about 50 wild animals, including owls, raccoons, and hedgehogs. Tending to the charges are experts such as Kangwon University veterinary professor Kim Jong-taek.
For wild animals, guns or traps set by humans are not the only threat. New road construction, cars, and the reflective surface of office windows pose dangers, as well.
Several owls have been hospitalized after flying into such reflective windows. Another owl was hit by a car after being caught in its headlights. A baby hedgehog was brought to the hospital by a middle school student after the small, spiny creature became separated from his mother.
"So far, there has been limited specialization in the rescue and treatment of wounded wild animals. Such tasks were conducted by civic groups," said Hong Jeong-gi, an Environment Ministry official.
By 2011, the ministry plans to build 16 such wild animal rescue centers nationwide.
