The houses prepared in this way are located all over the island in the presence of residents on the island, based on the cats’ movement routes, habitat characteristics, and advice from cat ecology experts, and are carefully selected to avoid inconveniences from encroachment on living space.
Total 36 locations
was placed in
Yonghodo Island is located in Yongho-ri, Hansan-myeon, Tongyeong-si, Gyeongsangnam-do.
It is a small island with an area of about 3.4㎢ and a coastline of 8km.
This island is included in Hallyeohaesang National Park.
yes. There are a total of 36 winter homes and feeding stations on small islands within the national park.
I don’t even want to guess the total number of stray cats.
Okay.
Just by looking at the photo, you can see that they are being fed in abundance.
In a recent administrative audit, Tongyeong City Council member A pointed out that it is not clear whether the Yonghodo Cat Island K-Tourist Attraction Development Project aims to revitalize tourism on the entire island or fosters a specific program centered on a cat school.
3 billion won has been invested, and an additional 1.2 billion won is expected to be invested next year.
However, the core direction of the business has not been determined.
The committee member pointed out that in order to promote the entire island, infrastructure must be built first, but even the results of the service were not presented.
It is pointed out that the composition of the content should be different depending on whether the cat school will be the center or the entire island will be developed as a tourist destination.
The committee member emphasized that complaints about cat management issues are also being raised and that the basics should be checked first.
In response to this, the person in charge of the Tongyeong City Tourism Innovation Department said that the entire island
We will promote it as Cat Island.
He answered.
Suddenly, Yongho Island secretly appeared
Cat Island for tourism industry purposes
Although it is promoted as
As can be seen from the administrative audit above,
It wasn’t developed for that purpose from the beginning.
The center was a cat school that was remodeled from a closed school into a cat shelter.
Following the audit pointing out cat management issues at the cat school,
They say they will promote it as Cat Island.
Discussions about cat schools in Tongyeong City began in the late 2010s from citizens who love cats and animals. Initially, there was a proposal to create a ‘cat island’ referring to the example of Aoshima in the Seto Inland Sea of Japan.
Concerns about destruction of island ecosystem caused by cats
In 2008, a ‘cat school’ modeled after the Lanai Cat Sanctuary on Lanai Island in the Hawaiian Islands, USA, became a reality.
In the early stages of business, it was clear
Not cat island
This is a project to create a cat sanctuary.
The reason was that there were concerns that the island’s ecosystem would be destroyed if it was made into a cat island.
“With Lanai’s population of about 3,000, pet cats are not a problem,” Vaughn said. “We bring about 200 cats to the sanctuary a year, 95% of which are truly feral cats living in remote areas where they have never seen humans.”
This
Feral cats are a major threat to Lanai’s native bird populations
Is: The endangered Hawaiian Petrel nests in burrows on the ground; Wedge-tailed shearwaters, which also nest in braided burrows, and Hawaiian stilts build their nests in floating vegetation in wetland areas.
Since all these native species are at risk of being killed by feral cats, they
Sterilizing them and releasing them back into the wild is not enough.
. The protected area is
We continue to work with conservationists to remove cats from their nests and provide them with safe, permanent homes in the sanctuary.
I’m doing it. In this way,
Both birds and cats continue to coexist
You can do it.
Became a model for Tongyeong Cat School
Lanai Cat Sanctuary
is
To protect native wild birds on the island,
And to protect cats that would otherwise be exterminated to protect wild birds.
These
Isolate and house and protect cats separately
doing
This is a private facility.
for this purpose
Cat conservationists and environmentalists collaborate
It is a model of coexistence and coexistence.
yes. The word coexistence is used in situations like this.
Establish feeding stations for stray cats in breeding areas for endangered species or migratory bird protection areas.
Making excuses for TNR and pretending to coexist
I’m not going to hit it.
In any case, Yonghodo Island in Tongyeong is modeled after this case of private coexistence.
Transformed into a cat island project for tourism purposes with taxpayers’ money invested.
It’s done.
Instead of that cat house and feeding place
A trap must be installed
That’s right, but
Groups that benefit from increasing the grazing area of Cat Island, such as cat mom groups,
The title of tourism project was needed in the name of budget investment.
local government
Are the interests aligned?
The original purpose became irrelevant.
Originally raised
by cat
destruction of the island ecosystem
concern,
And this place
The fact that it is a national park
silver
To prevent this collective act of destruction of the ecosystem,
It doesn’t play any role
Korea, the world’s only cat mom republic
It’s the reality.
What is Cat Island?
in the end
poor cat herding safari
In that sense
This is different from the trend of negative public opinion about animal experiences and exhibition facilities.
It’s also funny that it’s the exact opposite direction.