The study, co-authored by the British conservationist Joshua Elves-Powell and published in Biological Conservation in August, paints a grim picture of rapid ecological decline in a country with some of East Asia’s richest and least studied ecosystems.

“There is a strong risk of defaunation of North Korea’s forests, a scenario where they are effectively emptied,” Elves-Powell, an associate lecturer in biodiversity conservation and ecology at University College London, told This Week in Asia.

“If that happens, then not only is biodiversity lost and there is an impact on local people, but there is also an effect on the wildlife of neighbouring South Korea, China and Russia.”

Vanishing wildlife

Among the species highlighted by the study is the sable, once abundant on the Korean peninsula and long prized for its dense fur. Today, Elves-Powell believes it is “functionally extinct” in the North.