In
some areas >
<anchor, stray cats are hunting in the wild, threatening even the winter migratory birds, which are natural monuments. So the Cultural Heritage Agency even planned to catch the cats and move them elsewhere to protect migratory birds.

The issues surrounding these stray cats were highlighted by environmental reporter Jang Se-man.

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Marado, one of the
country's leading migratory bird destinations, is home to more than 100 species of migratory birds, and one of the biggest threats to birds is nearby stray cats.

[Kim Eo-jin/Owner of YouTube channel 'Sae Deok-hoo': I've seen a lot of baby birds being caught by cats in a clumsy state of flight when they've just left their nests.]

Video taken by a bird-watching YouTuber.

Birds fly desperately to avoid hunting by stray cats.

However, not a few birds end up being caught by cats, and many simply abandon dead birds when their hunting instincts are satisfied.

The argument that stray cats, which have become apex predators, should no longer be fed has been debated, with more than 6,40 comments and an emergency debate being held.

The Cultural Heritage Agency plans to capture the cats and move them to a sanctuary before spring, when the hornbill ducks, a natural monument, visit Marado.

Many studies have been conducted on the hunting of stray cats overseas, and in the United States, the number of animals hunted by cats reaches up to 1 billion per year, so the impact on the ecosystem is undeniable.

However, it is also pointed out that hunting or feeding cats is not something that happened yesterday.

Tracing the traces, wild cats began to be companions in the Middle East about <>,<> years ago when they came to human settlements.

Until the advent of closed housing structures such as apartments, cats were often free to move in and out of the house, unlike dogs.

They feed on human food and hunt themselves, maintaining the dual characteristics of pets and wild animals, and have been in relationship with humans for thousands of years.

[Choi Jin-woo/Seoul Environmental Coalition Expert Committee Member for Ecology: (Cat) is both a pet and a wild animal, and it is a little special animal that goes back and forth in between. The special bond (between humans and cats) must be fully considered.]

The so-called cat mothers' care for stray cats is excessive, no, and opinions are tight, but even in Korea, productive discussions can be achieved only if objective data is obtained through fact-finding surveys.

(Video Interview: Park Jin-ho and Kang Hyo-seop JIBS, Video Editor: Lee Sang-min, CG: Eom So-min, Video Source: YouTube Channel 'Sae Deok-hoo')