[Photo] Save the acorns for the squirrels

Students at Yonsei University’s Sinchon Campus have formed an “Acorn Guard” to help prevent nearby residents from taking all the neighborhood forests’ acorns. Even in modern times, it’s common in Korea for people living near forests or mountainous areas to collect edible items like mushrooms or acorns. However, a shortage of acorns in the forest areas nearby Yonsei University have been impacting the local ecosystem, particularly the squirrel population. The above photos show students of the Yonsei University Acorn Guard picking up acorns on Sept. 12 to be stored and distributed later in the winter, when the squirrels need them most. Also pictured is an acorn storage house that squirrels can access all year. (Hwang Geum-bi, staff reporter)