Wild Neighbors: Discovering the Animals Around Us

Animals captured on camera: Korean water deer, wild bear, Asian badger, Eurasian red squirrel, and more.

Every day, students walk past the forested hill behind our school without realizing how many animals live just beyond the path. During summer break, eight motion-sensor cameras were installed, revealing a hidden community of seven mammalian species—23 individuals in total—living right beside our campus.

The footage showed not only occasional visitors but also entire families. Two wild boar (Sus scrofa) families appeared regularly, each with four to five piglets. Even on rainy days, they were filmed pushing their snouts through the soil in search of food. Korean water deer (Hydropotes inermis argyropus) included a striking tusked male and a mother with her fawn, indicating that the hillside can support large herbivores.

Raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides) and Asian badgers (Meles leucurus) showed surprising adaptability, appearing both day and night. Their overlapping activity patterns suggest that even this small patch of forest sustains multiple omnivores and carnivores. The cameras also captured a single Eurasian red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris), three badgers, a pair of raccoon dogs, and even a domestic cat with distinct white “socks”. This highlights the blurred boundaries between wild and human-associated animals.

Small rodents appeared frequently as well, forming the foundation of the ecosystem. Their abundance supports higher levels of the food chain, and they serve as valuable indicators of overall environmental health. 

During camera installation, direct signs of wildlife activity were also observed. A leopard cat, badger burrows, and areas where wild boars had rooted through the soil provided tangible evidence of animal presence. To optimize camera placement, advice was sought from a mammal tracking expert who documents wildlife via camera traps on Instagram as @with_dambi, ensuring effective coverage of various species.

While camera traps capture striking moments, they are only one method for studying wildlife. Traditional tracking techniques provide insights that photography alone cannot. Wildlife experts Tae-young Choi and Hyeon-myeong Choi explain in their book Field Guide to Wildlife Tracks:

“Tracks allow us to understand animals without seeing them directly and help us transcend the constraints of time that bind us. Footprints may vanish within days, yet piles of droppings can be found months later, and claw marks on trees remain visible for years.”

This temporal perspective reveals activity patterns invisible to cameras. The authors note: "Investigating the traces left behind in the forest is far more effective for understanding the creatures around me than merely catching a fleeting glimpse. Moreover, the curiosity nurtured through this understanding brings even greater joy when I finally observe the animals directly." Combining camera documentation with systematic tracking could provide deeper insights into animal behavior, territory use, and seasonal movement patterns.

The camera trap documentation reveals several fascinating ecological principles applying to the local environment. Large herbivores coexist with specialized carnivores, indicating adequate habitat diversity and resource availability. Families of wild boar forage beside deer with fawns; nocturnal badgers cross paths with adaptable raccoon dogs. 

Yet the cameras also revealed another reality: traces of human activity. Some recordings showed litter scattered across the forest floor. Protecting this ecosystem requires awareness from all members of the community. Maintaining a clean hillside and respecting the animals’ space ensures that the area remains a habitat for wildlife while offering students opportunities for direct observation and ecological insight.