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오홍식 교수팀, 한라산 서식 꽃사슴 아종(亞種) 최초 규명

Prof. Oh Hong-sik finds flower deer subspecies on Mt. Halla 

 Jeju National University’s researchers clarified for the first time that Mt. Halla on Jeju is a biological classification unit that divides the two subspecies of Formosan deer into the ones from Taiwan and Japan’s Yakushima.

Prof. Oh Hong-sik of biological education at Jeju National University said Wednesday (April 27) that his research team analyzed the gene sequence, after which haplotype (a set of allelic genes of various traits located very closely on the same chromosome) was analyzed using software. The team then identified the species of Formosan deer (flower deer) in Mt. Halla, based on the polymorphism of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) gene.

The research team also analyzed the maternal system structure of the flower deer to find out the correlation between inflow routes and groups.

The research findings were published in the April 2022 issue of Animals, a renowned international journal in the field of wildlife research. The article is titled “‘Molecular Evidence Reveals the Sympatric Distribution of Cervus nippon yakushimae and Cervus nippon taiouanus on Jeju Island, South Korea” (the first author Maniram Banjade, Ph.D.).

Currently, several deer species such as Formosan sika deer (Cervus nippon) and Red deer (Cervus elaphus) are introduced into Hallasan National Park, causing various ecological and social problems as the different species are randomly distributed.

Still, what lineage the species belongs to and how they were introduced have yet to be scientifically clarified.

Prof. Oh said, “The results of this study are expected to be widely used as valuable data to prepare academic research and environmental policies in the field of wildlife research and measures to manage deer, foreign species, and wildlife suitable for local characteristics.”