Jeju Dogs of Hallasan and Their Boar-Hunting Instinct

During the tracking, the dog sprints at full speed of about 60 km/h to spot its prey, and after a 3 km chase it captures a wild boar weighing about 120 kg.

When tracking prey, it sprints at full speed of about 60 km/h, and after a 3 km chase it sometimes captures a wild boar of roughly 120 kg.

To endure the Gotjawal terrain thick with thorny brush, the Jeju dog has thick, tough skin and coarse, well-developed fur.

Its well-developed maxilla and mandible let it bite down hard on prey and subdue it, and its round, sturdy paws let it run quickly over basalt terrain.

Wild boar that escaped from farms and went feral are damaging the Hallasan ecosystem, and they are often spotted even during night patrols.

When hikers encounter wild boar, there is no proper response method and dangerous situations can arise, so the advice is to stay still without shouting if you meet one.

As digging activity has grown more active, damage to native plants has followed. Repeated digging activity is causing damage to native plants.

These boar are seriously harming Hallasan's native plants through their active digging.

The Jeju dog pack surrounds the boar and disorients it, then one dog circles behind a rock to draw the boar's attention.

Through this diversionary tactic, they attack the boar's vulnerable neck and subdue it effectively.

They read the terrain and the boar's movements to weaken its offense, and once they have caught a boar they keep it subdued until their owner arrives.

National park officials praised their catching ability.

That is 34 wild boar and 18 deer, an outstanding catch that surprised even the officials.

Even when injured during a hunt, a Jeju dog shows no aggression toward its owner. Its loyalty stands out, placing obedience to its owner above its own pain.

It shows strong loyalty, putting obedience to its owner ahead of its own suffering.

Researcher Yang Yeong-hun compared the DNA of Jeju dogs with foreign breeds and with wolves.

Tracing fragments of mitochondrial DNA, researchers found that the Jeju dog is genetically linked to the gray wolf of North America.

This result points to the origin of the Jeju dog's wildness and hunting instinct.

It was confirmed that feral dogs on Hallasan prey on wild animals. Roe deer bones and fur were found inside feces collected near Baengnokdam.

This is important evidence that feral dogs on Hallasan are preying on wild animals.

As it has aged, its fur has fallen out and lost its shine, and its physical decline is clear. Its owner is now in his 70s, and they share the marks of time together.

A training session took place in the form of play, building coordination between the dog and its owner. Using a pheasant wing to stimulate hunting instinct is a process for judging the dog's aptitude as a hunting dog. Training that proceeds as play uses a pheasant wing.

Although it looks like play, it is a process of matching rhythm with the owner, stimulating hunting instinct, and instilling the idea that delighting the owner is the purpose of the hunt.

The owner shows complex feelings about wanting to show the young dogs how Yongmeoru hunts, and the hunting instinct passed down through generations is projected onto the young through generational change.

The puppies smelled out the pheasants and flushed them from the brush, fully displaying their hunting instinct.

In real deployment, the puppies achieved the remarkable result of catching two pheasants.

Roles were divided so that the older dogs drive the boar toward the inexperienced puppies, who finish it off.

Through a cooperative hunting strategy in which the big dogs herd the boar and the puppies handle the finish, the young gain real-world experience.