North Koreans eating tigers and badgers to survive

Starving North Koreans are resorting to hunting, selling and eating wild animals, including tigers and leopards, according to a new study.

The research, led by scientists from University College London (UCL) and the Norwegian Institute of Nature Research, paints a bleak picture of a country where extreme poverty and food shortages have led humans to consume almost every mammal “bigger than a hedgehog”.

The study alleges black market traders worked with officials loyal to North Korea’s 41-year-old Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un to profit from illegal wildlife trade.

Targeted species include Siberian Tiger, Amur Leopard, Bears, Deer and long-tailed goral, a goat-like mountain animal.

Co-author Joshua Elves-Powell from UCL said: “Almost every mammal species larger than a hedgehog in North Korea is opportunistically captured for consumer use or trade.

“Even highly protected species are sometimes traded across the Chinese border.”

Researchers interviewed 42 North Korean defectors who revealed that the country’s devastating famine of the 1990s – which killed hundreds of thousands of people.

Although food conditions later improved, the practice reportedly continued for both consumption and profit.

Joshua added: “A domestic market in wild meat and animal body parts has developed, as well as an international trade where smugglers will seek to sell North Korean wildlife products across the Chinese border.”

The report, published in the journal Biological Corsoration, warned that continued exploitation of wildlife could have disastrous consequences.

The study concluded: “There is a serious risk that unsustainable exploitation of wildlife in North Korea has serious consequences, including the extinction of key species and the potential neglect of North Korean landscapes.”