Spotting the Korean hare may be easier than spotting the native tiger which is already extinct in the country. If you’re a fan of the Discovery Channel or into wildlife photography, keep your eyes open for it in its favourite foraging sites which could be in dense mountain forests or farmlands.
And if you’re visiting North Korea, you’d be even more hard-pressed to find the giant German rabbits imported by some North Korean officials way back in 2007. Some international papers like the Der Spiegel made much ado about the potential of breeding these enormous bunnies for their meat.
The breeder, Karl Szmonlinsky first caught the eye of the North Koreans when he won a prize for his “German grey giants” and they persuaded him to part with at least ten rabbits sold at around 80 euros or $104 per rabbit ( a pretty hefty discount, it seemed as the normal going rate for each rabbit was 200 t0 250 euros) and there was even talk of Szmonlinsky making a trip to Pyongyang to share his expertise with the North Koreans who were supposedly going to breed the rabbits to ease the food shortages there.
However, Karl Szmonlinsky became suspicious when the North Koreans later told him the trip was off, they weren’t issuing him a visa as promised as they didn’t need his technical advice anymore. He then shared with reporters his fear that the rabbits were no longer hopping around on a breeding farm or even a petting zoo but had made their last appearance on the dining tables of top officials.
The story doesn’t quite end there. The mystery of the missing rabbits in North Korea was raised again more recently by British artist Jess Flood-Padlock. By featuring images of those German giants in her solo exhibition “Gangsta’s Paradise” at the Hayward Gallery, she questioned the motives of those involved in the transaction.
Five hundred years from now, a group of archeologists may uncover some strange bones buried on the outskirts of Pyeongyang and wonder where they come from. The mystery may continue.
sources:
http://www.mammalwatching.com/Palearctic/palearctkorea.html
http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/news/news_Sc_detail.htm?No=78665
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Hare
http://san.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2008/10/31/2008103100564.html
http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,475218,00.html
http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,458863,00.html
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0%2C2144%2C2307544%2C00.html
http://www.artreview.com/forum/topics/jess-floodpaddock-gangsta
http://www9.artslant.com/global/artists/show/169946-jess-flood-paddock
