Otter zone featuring two rescues to open at Seoul Children's Grand Park

Food & Travel

Otter zone featuring two rescues to open at Seoul Children's Grand Park

Published: 09 Aug. 2024, 15:54 Updated: 09 Aug. 2024, 15:59

A taxidermied otter family is on display at the exhibition roughly translated to ″Walking with Natural Monuments.″ [KOREA HERITAGE SERVICE]

The Korea Heritage Service will hold a special exhibition on natural monuments in Seoul Children’s Grand Park in Gwangjin District, eastern Seoul, from Monday to Aug. 25, to mark the grand opening of a new otter zone inside the park.

The zone, which opened on Friday, features a pair of otters that were rescued when they were a month old in 2022. They were looked after separately by experts from different institutions in Daejeon and Buyeo County, South Chungcheong. However, in June, the government decided to bring them together and make the park their new home as they were considered too tame to be released back into the wild.

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The exhibition, whose name translates roughly to “Walking with Natural Monuments,” will feature taxidermied animals including of an otter family, a Reeve’s Turtle and a Chinese stripe-necked turtle.

The exhibition will also show pictures of fish species designated by the government as "natural monuments," including the Miho spined loach, Spotted barbel and Korean stumpy bullhead. Photographs and videos of other important natural monuments will be displayed at the exhibition.

There will be a special talk on Aug. 24 by the Association of Korean Otter Conservation President Han Sung-yong, who will speak about his 30 years of experience researching otters. There will also be an otter origami program on Aug. 17 and 24. Registration for the two events can be done through email (yjchoe0321@korea.kr).

“Walking with Natural Monuments” will be continued at the Choe Buk Museum of Art in Muju County, North Jeolla starting Aug. 30.

The Korea Heritage Service will take suggestions for the two otters’ names through its Instagram. The institution will also release videos of the otters on its official YouTube channel starting Aug. 12.

BY KIM MIN-YOUNG [kim.minyoung5@joongang.co.kr]