“Please don’t disappear, mountain goat.” “Let's get rid of the fence. Or maybe next year there won't be any mountain goats. Please.”

These are the words on a postcard written by the students of class 4 in the first grade of Seongdeok Elementary School in Gangneung, Gangwon Province. The postcards express their feelings for the mountain goats that died last winter, when more than 1,000 died. The postcards also express their sadness for the mountain goats that died last winter, when 1,000 of them were killed by the African Swine Fever (ASF) fence and heavy snowfall.

On the morning of December 18, more than 100 classes from 35 schools across the country, including 17 first-grade students from Seongdeok Elementary School, held a joint class on the death of the mountain goat, an endangered mammal and Natural Monument No. 217, and the protection measures needed in the future. This is the first time that a nationwide joint class on a specific endangered animal has been held, organized by the Nature's Friend and the Korean Teacher’s Organization for Ecological Education and Activity.

Previously, between December last year and May, at least 1042 mountain goats were killed in areas around the Civilian Control Line, including Inje, Hwacheon, and Yanggu in Gangwon Province.

While heavy snowfall was a factor, experts and environmental organizations blamed the losses on ASF fences that fragmented the habitat of wildlife, including mountain goats, and the irresponsible attitude of the Ministry of Environment and the National Registered Cultural Heritage.

The joint class watched live YouTube videos of mountain goats, songs, and measures needed to protect them, and then each class conducted individual activities. The class 4 in the first grade at Seongdeok Elementary School watched the YouTube video for two periods and then wrote postcards to the minister of the environment and the head of the National Registered Cultural Heritage, drew pictures of mountain goats, and filled in speech bubbles. Other elementary, middle, and high school classes participating in the joint class had similar activities.

“The students all agreed that we should protect the mountain goat,” said Choi Kyu-seo, a teacher at Seongdeok Elementary School, who participated in the joint class with his students. “If the polar bear is a symbol of endangered species due to the climate crisis globally, the mountain goat is a symbolic animal in Korea,” he said.

“Students were particularly interested in the ASF fence,” he said, “and many wrote on postcards that the fence should be removed.”

The joint class video, “Don't Disappear, Goat Mountains, YouQuiz Goat!” was organized by “Nature's Friend” and “Korean Teacher’s Organization For Ecological Education And Activity.” It can be viewed on YouTube.