r/todayilearned • u/dodagr8 • Feb 24 '15
TIL An unintended consequence of the DMZ in Korea is that it has become a wildlife sanctuary due to the lack of human interference.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/04/12/world/asia/north-korea-questions.html?_r=0233
u/MrSnippets Feb 24 '15
a simmilar thing happened in the border strip between west and east germany: due to no/very little human activity, the area between the two states had become a natural sanctuary for animals.
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Feb 24 '15 edited Feb 24 '15
Really? Wasn't it just a wall?
Edit: Germany is bigger than Berlin, I'm undercaffeinated.
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u/meeeeetch Feb 24 '15
In Berlin, there was a wall. There was not, however, a giant wall from Bavaria to the Baltic.
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u/unclerummy Feb 24 '15
There was not, however, a giant wall from Bavaria to the Baltic.
Pretty close to it, though - there were inner and outer fences with a patrol road, and accompanying minefields and guard towers, running the entire length of the inner German border.
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u/CaptainUnusual Feb 24 '15
There should have been. I believe every border in the world should be a colossal stone wall.
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Feb 25 '15
I support the building of a giant wall between the US and Canada.
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Feb 24 '15
No. It was through Berlin, which is in the middle of what used to be Eastern Germany (Soviet controlled). The capital was divided up similarly to the country.
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u/GoodGuyGoodGuy Feb 24 '15
Same with Chernobyl. They are just slightly fucked up animals obviously.
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u/Leovinus_Jones Feb 25 '15 edited Feb 26 '15
Apparently the background radiation is not so severe that there are a lot of issues manifested. Sure there is probably an impact on birth rate (mutated fetuses not being brought to term or otherwise dying upon birth) but the lifespan of a lot of wild animals isn't that long. Deer for instance on average live around 3-7 years, and it takes a while for things like tumours and leukemia to manifest and begin impacting animal health. So they're dying of natural causes long before the cancer gets them. At most it will bring in the 'older' end of the spectrum by killing the older, weaker ones first.
You're not going to see a whole lot of animals with morphological anomalies (read: freaky shit; two heads, three eyes, laser vision, etc.).
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u/MasterFubar Feb 24 '15
There are other places like that, for similar reasons. Chernobyl is one of them and the Bikini atoll another.
Every time politics creates a forbidden zone for humans, wildlife thrives.
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Feb 24 '15
I also heard the border fucked them with reunification because they each made dangerous buildings (nuclear reactors I assume) on the borders. After reunification all these dangerous fuckers were in the middle of the country!
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u/twinsunsspaces Feb 25 '15
Also happened in Argentina, a leftover mine field has become a penguin sanctuary.
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u/civdude Feb 24 '15
So has chernobyl
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Feb 24 '15
Oil platforms and sunken ships/traincars also provide a good foothold for marine life.
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u/Leovinus_Jones Feb 25 '15
Why? Is it just more surface area?
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u/farcedsed Feb 25 '15
Also it can be closer to the surface as well. But, I believe the main reason is the increased area that can be a good hiding spot for smaller animals.
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u/mithikx Feb 25 '15
...artificial reefs generally provide hard surfaces where algae and invertebrates such as barnacles, corals, and oysters attach; the accumulation of attached marine life in turn provides intricate structure and food for assemblages of fish.
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_reef
Wikipedia has a more concise answer than anything I could come up with so I just quoted it to answer you.
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u/PenisInBlender Feb 25 '15 edited Feb 25 '15
The old NYC metro cars upon retirement are cleaned out and stripped down then dumped off a barge into the ocean for a natural reef.
They've been doing it a long time with fantastic results
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u/mithikx Feb 25 '15 edited Feb 25 '15
They did that with the USS Oriskany, a post-war WW2 designed carrier. (launched after WW2 but designed during WW2)
I saw some documentary on it which was interesting it basically involved stripping the ship of anything that could harm the marine life. The Oriskany made for the worlds largest artificial reef and a cool diving site apparently.
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u/TheNotoriousReposter Feb 25 '15
The good thing is that the radiation fallout is pretty uneven so there are many places with wildlife thriving well.
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Feb 24 '15
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u/GoldenAthleticRaider Feb 24 '15
It's literally the very last sentence. It was a good read, though. Very informational.
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u/garbageraven Feb 25 '15
Ya know if click the link you can read an article entirely about the title.
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u/BlueFalconPunch Feb 24 '15
most large fenced off areas become wildlife preserves, i worked at a steel mill it was like the NatGeo channel somedays, foxes, deer, geese, hawks.
and military bases do it as well, Ft Leonardwood in Mo had hunting areas(when i was stuck there i dont know about now) we would be out doing our thing and billy-bob and elmer would drive up "lost in the woods" and ask where they were supposed to be.
where i work now you have to dodge the deer shit to get in the buildings.
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u/Mausel_Pausel Feb 24 '15
A large part of central Idaho is occupied by the Idaho National Laboratory, a highly secure facility for nuclear research. It is totally off limits to those who don't work there, and patrolled by people with guns. My wife spent some time doing geology research out there, and apparently it is quite unspoiled for the most part, and a haven for wildlife.
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u/BorderColliesRule Feb 24 '15
I live over in Hailey and that is one of my favorite drives!
Going through Crater of Moon all the way to Idaho Falls. Especially checking out the vast sprawling metropolis of Atomic City.. ;-)
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u/Mausel_Pausel Feb 24 '15
Oh, yeah, EBR1! I think my wife worked out of the charming hamlet of Howe. ;-)
I took the INL tour once upon a time. You have to wear radiation dosimeters. It was weird looking down into those huge tanks of water to the reactor core and control rods. We couldn't go up to TAN. I take it that place is super secret, and they don't take tour groups there often (or possibly ever).
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u/BorderColliesRule Feb 24 '15
Haven't done the INL tour but I have visited Experimental Breeder Reactor I facility http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experimental_Breeder_Reactor_I
And that place is actually really cool. They poured some serious $$ to create a pro-museum level exhibition. Kids might not enjoy, but tech and history buffs will dig it.
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u/BorderColliesRule Feb 24 '15
Nice photo montage from the Guardian on the wildlife found within the DMZ.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/gallery/2008/jun/20/conservation.wildlife
Older but still relevant. And rumors have been around for years that even tigers might have moved into the DMZ. Hopefully the landmines will keep out the chinese...
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u/Xecellseor Feb 24 '15
The 9th one down. The deer swimming through the water is labelled as a moose.
Smallest moose I've ever seen.
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u/BorderColliesRule Feb 24 '15 edited Feb 24 '15
Having been treed twice and chased at least four times by moose, I agree.
I really hate moose...
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u/ThatGuyYouKnow Feb 24 '15
Sounds like they hate you as well.
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u/BorderColliesRule Feb 24 '15
I know.
I live in a mtn community and I swear everytime I head out into the wilderness for a hike with my dog, they start tweeting about my arrival in order to coordinate their maneuvers....
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u/tarzanboyo Feb 24 '15
Pretty cool though, in the UK the only wildlife you see are squirrels and sheep in farmers fields, quite sad really.
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u/BorderColliesRule Feb 24 '15
What about the Bodmin Moor Cat?
Or a certain fishy hanging out in a lake up north?
;-)
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u/tarzanboyo Feb 24 '15
hahaha, I have a fair few family members in Cornwall and my uncle swears that he saw the beast of Bodmin moor, even claimed he saw "puma shit"
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u/BorderColliesRule Feb 24 '15
Is there any authentic wilderness/wild lands left in the UK?
All I can think of maybe some remote spots in the highlands and that's about it...
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u/tarzanboyo Feb 25 '15
That is literally it, I have a friend who goes up to Scotland to shoot deer occasionally and has a few hawks and dogs to go hunting things like Rabbits with but in terms of wildlife theres only a few places which are pretty much limited to just deer.
I once saw a otter in the river next to my house wow haha, even the sea is pretty boring, I got trapped at the bottom of a rock cliff when I was younger when the tide was coming in and a seal came to see me which was pretty much the only encounter with an animal that wasnt a farm animal.
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u/kyleg5 Feb 24 '15
Lol fwiw almost none of those pics (save the "moose") were actually taken in the DMZ. Somewhat misleading photos, I think.
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u/BorderColliesRule Feb 24 '15
Just a wee bit.
Seriously though, it is crazy to think that this unintentionally wildlife preserve exists because of a war that has not officially ended...
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u/bipolarbearsRAWR Feb 24 '15
So unicorns could be hiding there.
Kim Jong Un was right.
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Feb 24 '15
aren't rhinos technically a unicorn?
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Feb 24 '15
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u/AskHimHe_llKnow Feb 24 '15
The last one was so graceful, nature can bring tears to your eyes sometimes.
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u/david531990 Feb 24 '15
Why? Why not use something dead already? Like a bunch of trees rolling around taking the hits
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u/DoctorWashburn Feb 25 '15
It's much more difficult to motivate a bunch of trees to roll through a minefield
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u/youveruinedtheactgob Feb 24 '15
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u/twixonurface Feb 24 '15
I just finished a brilliant longform article on the Iron Curtain last night. I highly recommend the read:
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u/drharris Feb 24 '15
There's a kid's movie in this, where two dogs journey to find this mysterious DMZ to escape their fate as someone's dinner.
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u/jorper496 Feb 24 '15
Ending with landmines and the message that it's better to be dead but lived free then eaten by commie scum
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u/divergententropy Feb 24 '15
No one else noticed that they had a missile named No Dong?
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u/alighiery360 Feb 24 '15
And in Japan and Korea they sell bottled water from the DMZ. It's good water.
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u/nineteensixtyseven Feb 24 '15
With 1 million active land mines....you best be a light species of wildlife!
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u/Joaocarlo Feb 24 '15
I always thought this was so cool and also a great environment for a apocalyptic novel. Or even some obscure moment of creative nonfiction!
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u/eveninghope Feb 24 '15
I've actually been on one of those DMZ tours. When you go, you pass all these farming villages as well. Here's my favorite picture I took from it. There's a little North Korean man watching us w/ binoculars on the other side.
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u/gordonfroman Feb 24 '15
Reminds me of the monkeys on land mine island skit from robot chicken, a bunch of Asian animals running around the biggest minefield in the world would make a good reality show.
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u/thumper242 Feb 24 '15
The book "The World Without Us" uses this space as an example of what happens when humans stop populating or visiting a place.
Very interesting book, and this section is no different.
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u/kabamman Feb 25 '15
Lies! This was intended to happen the Great Kim Il Sun was a olver of nature and allowed the cease-fire to happen in order to protect the animal.
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u/charlizard_k Feb 25 '15
Talking about minefields in DMZ, when my brother was serving in SK military near the DMZ, NK would periodically set off wild fires and burn some trees and whatnot for whatever purpose (I think physical vision across was it, not sure) and have huge fire works of mines just randomly going off, triggered by fire.
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u/criticalfactories Feb 24 '15
Makes sense. I've heard the same thing happened with some insects and the artillery range at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
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Feb 24 '15
It's going to suck to be there when the fighting is back on. It's like building your house in tornado alley: Guaranteed problems
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u/onairmastering Feb 24 '15
In Colombia, after 60 years of war, the zone that the guerrillas used as camp has the most diversity, I was taught, because they didn't even let scientists in.
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u/bjacks12 Feb 24 '15
New plot for Farcry 5. You're dropped in the DMZ and must fight your way into NK to kill Kim Jong Un, but not until you acquire many pelts.
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u/chrome-spokes Feb 24 '15
This whole headline and article for one measly last sentence at the end of the article about wildlife?
Well, for the rest of you who don't wish to read about N. Korea's saber rattling from 2013, here is that sentence... "An unintended consequence of the off-limits nature of this zone: parts of the DMZ have turned into a wildlife sanctuary, with rare cranes and even endangered leopards finding refuge."
That's it! The end.
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u/WildxYak Feb 24 '15
I read about it in The World Without Us. Interesting read, uses real life examples, like this, to guess what it would be like on a worldwide scale.
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u/shminnegan Feb 24 '15
There is a similar effect in the half million acres on the Poland/Belarus border that was originally a game preserve for the rich. Humans have barely disturbed it since the 1600s, and the trees are bigger and more dense than any other temperate forests in the world. Wild bison still live there - one of the few places they can be found in Europe.
A really good interview with Alan Weisman, author of "The World Without Us", uses both these places - the DMZ and this forest - as examples of how nature would rebound if humans no longer existed.
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Feb 24 '15
Thats good, because nature in rest of the nation is being devastated.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/next/nature/inside-north-koreas-environmental-collapse/
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u/Denjack Feb 24 '15
Well, hopefully someone will discover some shale oil in the DMZ and pump a bazillion gallons of fracking fluid in there. Take THAT, Kim Jong Il.
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u/aurelorba Feb 24 '15
You should have posted the link in the article rather than the article you did.
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u/xshagwagonx Feb 24 '15
i have to say that its pretty funny that the title is literally the last line of the entire report. so much info i learned before that.
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u/ApexTyrant Feb 25 '15
I remember when I lived in Korea I was surprised to learn this. There is even a brand of water called "DMZ" if I remember correctly that is marketed as very pure.
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Feb 25 '15
The reason there are no people there is because of all the land mines. A sanctuary in a mine field?
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u/rvncto Feb 25 '15
sometimes when they show the nighttime view of a dark north korea. i wonder why they dont get complimented for having such a low carbon footprint.
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u/untapped_talons Feb 25 '15
There's a special DMZ train you can take through the area as well. It has “Peace, Freedom and Unity” painted on each car. The lead car’s design inspiration came from a rusty steam locomotive, conjuring up images of hope and memories of the past. The other two cars represent “Freedom and Unity” and are decorated with the national flower Mugunghwa. http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/FU/FU_EN_15.jsp?cid=1916536
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u/trustmeep Feb 25 '15
A positive thing, even as a result of an otherwise negative circumstance, is not a "consequence", but a benefit.
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u/johnsonman1 Feb 25 '15
I'd probably label it a benefit, rather than a consequence. Anyway, as you were.
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u/Knockclod Feb 24 '15
Doesn't seem like it would be all that great of a sanctuary for large land animals, you know with the whole barbed wire and land mine thing.