Over 100 red foxes, once thought to be extinct in the wild, now thrive in South Korea, primarily around the Sobaeksan region in North Gyeongsang Province, following a decade-long reintroduction effort.

According to the Korea National Park Service under the Environment Ministry on Monday, the estimated population of red foxes on the South Korean territory, as of September, was around 120, including 21 foxes born in the wild. This marks an increase from last year when the estimated number of red foxes in the wild was less than 90.

Once widespread across the Korean Peninsula, the red fox is now classified as a first-class endangered species. Its population drastically declined starting in the 1960s due to indiscriminate poaching, a decrease in the rat population and secondary poisoning from eating poisoned rats.

In 2004, the discovery of a male red fox carcass in Yanggu, Gangwon Province, offered a glimmer of hope that red foxes might still exist in the wild. But according to the Korea National Park Service, the male fox was a different species from the Korean red fox.

Since 2012, the park service has been conducting a restoration project at Sobaeksan National Park, North Gyeongsang Province, with the goal of reintroducing the red fox to the region. In that year, a pair of red foxes, born and raised at Seoul Zoo, were released in the Sobaeksan region.

Red foxes have been spotted in various parts of the country in recent years. In May, a male red fox was seen in Gwangju, 250 kilometers from Sobaeksan.

The park service is closely monitoring the real-time locations and movements of the red foxes through a GPS tracking device implanted in their necks.

The red fox has also been named as the endangered species of the month, as part of the Environment Ministry’s campaign aimed at raising awareness about the plight of endangered animals and plants on the Korean peninsula.

Since launching the campaign in April with the flying squirrel, the ministry has highlighted a total of six endangered species on the Korean Peninsula so far, including the tawny owl (May), the cowbane (June), the Mongolia racerunner (July), the fairy pitta (August) and the red fox (September).