Distribution and Relative Abundance 
The range of pure P. c. karpowi in South Korea extends for 
approximately 250 miles | from Cheju Do Island north through the Korean 
peninsula at about s7° N. into southern Kyonggi Do and Kangwon Do 
provinces (Figure 21). Between latitudes 37°N., to 40°N., the pheasant 
population is intermediate between P. c. karpowi and PB, ce pallasi, the 
Manchurian ring-necked pheasant. Both “subspecies live at moderate 
elevation ranging from sea level to about 2,000 feet or slightly 
higher. 
Travel in the vicinity of the 38th parallel or "Armistice Line" 
between South and North Korea was highly restricted, so Program per- 
sonnel were necessarily limited to field studies south of this area, 
Local reports from the above, heavily-mined area indicated that pheas- 
ants were very abundant partly because of lack of hunting and partly 
because of good food and cover conditions. Several of our Armed Forces 
personnel enticed to this general area by the abundance of pheasants 
have suffered serious accidents from land mines. 
Farther south, along the east coast of South Korea between Yang- 
yang and Kangnung, pheasants were so abundant as to provide four guns 
with about 25 birds a day. As many as 75 to 100 or more were flushed 
in one day by a party with one dog. Few hunters were seen along this 
particular coastal area. Inland, around Seoul, decidedly fewer numbers 
of pheasants were seen or flushed but hunting, nevertheless, was better 
than in many United States pheasant coverts. Larger pheasant numbers 
were located at some distance from big cities, but the South Korean 
ring-necked pheasant was common even in the brushy canyons and ridges 
in and around Seoul. 
Pheasants were in such abundance on southern Cheju Do Island 
that the U. S. Armed Forces chartered recreational flights to provide 
excellenc hunting for their personnel from both South Korean and 
Japanese bases, 
No authentic records have been noted to indicate that the birds 
are cyclic or that they vary in population numbers any more than do 
our ring-necked pheasants. South Korea offers move favorable year- 
around climate and better habitat conditions, conducive to the welfare 
of this bird, than are found throughout much of the aorthern United 
States, 
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