Wednesday, July 23, 2014

The Donggyeong, a poorly known dog from Korea

Native dogs of Korea
The Cultural Heritage Administration (Korea) registered the Donggyeong breed on its list of natural monuments in 2012. This is a state-designated heritage classification for animals, plants and biological and geological features carrying exceptional historical, cultural, scientific, aesthetic or academic value. The Jindo and the Sapsal dogs had been previously given this designation (see photos to the left).

The oldest reference to the Donggyeong is in The Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms, a book about Korea’s Three Kingdoms era, a period between the fourth and seventh centuries, and written during the Goryeo period (918-1392). One of the chapters of the book, “Assorted Information on the Donggyeong,” is dedicated to the dog. The Donggyeong was also a model for dogs appearing on earthenware made by during the Silla Dynasty (B.C. 57-935). 


At first glance, the Donggyeong looks very similar to the Jindo. However, the key distinction is in the tail: While the Jindo’s tail is long and curved, the Donggyeong has  a bobtail or completely lacks a tail.


In 2007 locals initiated a project to preserve the breed, forming an organization called the Korea Preservation Association for Gyeongju Dog Donggyeong and started breeding the dog in Gyeongju. Today, there are some 306 Donggyeong dogs which are officially recognized by the CHA.


In a forthcoming paper in the Journal of Veterinary Medical Science (Japan) Gil-jae Cho and colleagues analyze 10 microsatellite markers in the Donggyeong dog and compare it to 12 other dog breeds (369 individual dogs). The number of alleles per locus varied from 5 to 10 with a mean value of 7.6 in the Donggyeong dog. This study found specific alleles in the Donggyeong dog when compared with other dog breeds. Also, the results showed two Korean native dogs cluster together while other dog breeds form a distinctly different cluster. The closest distance (0.1184) was observed between the Donggyeong and Jindo suggesting a common ancestor.


Citations
Lee, E. W., Choi, S. K., & Cho, G. J. (in press, 2014). Molecular Genetic Diversity of the Gyeongju Donggyeong Dog in Korea. The Journal of veterinary medical science/the Japanese Society of Veterinary Science.


Dog of Silla royalty gets heritage designation. Korea JoogAng Daily. April 9, 2012.

No comments:

Post a Comment