"Electricity Bill Alone Hits 7 Million Won This Month Trying to Save Ducks from Scorching Heat"

"I am doing everything I can to somehow save the ducks, but they keep dying every day."

At a duck farm in Jukdong-ri, Seji-myeon, Naju, South Jeolla Province, on the 27th, as scorching heat exceeding 30 degrees Celsius continued for days.

The ducks, which would normally move around in flocks or make sounds, were lying limp with their bodies pressed against the hot ground.

They opened their beaks and gasped for breath everywhere, and some gathered around the waterer and drank water incessantly.

Some ducks barely had the energy to avoid people even when they approached, lifting only their heads before sitting back down.

Inside the barn, large fans ran non-stop and a fog spraying device spewed fine water droplets, but they could not completely push out the heat.

Lim, 59, who has been raising ducks for 34 years, immediately rushed into the barn upon seeing the ducks slumped on the floor.

When Lim spread both arms and crossed between the flocks, the limp ducks startled and stood up, but sat back down again without taking a few steps.

To prevent the ducks from continuously sitting on the floor and increasing their body temperature, he walked around the inside of the barn dozens of times a day to scatter the flock.

Fans and fog spraying devices are operated 24 hours a day, and vitamins are even mixed into the water the ducks drink.

However, even this is not enough in the face of the relentless heat continuing day after day, and Lim said that 200 to 300 ducks died from not being able to withstand the heat just this morning.

Lim complained, "The electricity bill alone came out to 7 million won this month, and I cannot save electricity because the ducks die if the facilities are stopped even for a moment," adding, "I want to install solar panels, but the barns are classified as temporary buildings under the Farmland Act, making even that difficult."

It was not only the livestock trapped inside the cramped barns that suffered from the scorching heat.

On the same day, at a pear orchard in Bonghwang-myeon, Naju, seasonal workers from Laos, Xiao (29), Lien (33), and Mo (33, female), were working under the hot and strong sunlight.

Scarcely 5 minutes had passed since stepping next to the pear trees, and thick sweat beads quickly formed on the bridges of their noses.

While wiping away the sweat pouring down with towels hung around their necks and their sleeves, they moved their hands incessantly.

As the scorching heat continued, their working hours also changed.

Avoiding midday when temperatures are highest, they worked from 5:00 AM to 10:00 AM, rested at their accommodations, and came back out to the orchard from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM.

Xiao, who also farmed in Laos, said he had not expected South Korea's summer to be this difficult.

Xiao said, "The temperature is similar to Laos, but South Korea has much higher humidity, so sweat pours out just by moving a little," and added, "The sunlight is so strong that my skin stings, so I have no choice but to wear long-sleeve clothes even though it is hot."

The heat felt everywhere in the field is also reflected in the actual heat wave warning status.

As of 3:00 PM on this day, heat wave warnings were issued across all of South Jeolla Province and Gwangju, with more than half of the regions entering the heat wave advisory stage, and Gwangyang experiencing its fourth consecutive day of the highest-level heat wave severe warning stage.

Since the beginning of this summer until the previous day, livestock that have died from the heat in South Jeolla Province and Gwangju reached 16,378.

By livestock type, chickens were the most at 12,283, followed by 2,360 ducks and 1,735 pigs.

A total of 109 heat-related illness patients also occurred in the South Jeolla Province and Gwangju regions from May 15, when the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency began counting, to the 25th.

At around 3:15 PM on the 25th, a Thai national in their 30s, identified as A, complained of dizziness on a field path in Hwangsan-myeon, Haenam-gun, and died, with the death presumed to be caused by a heat-related illness.

An official from the Gwangju Regional Meteorological Administration urged, "As heat wave severe warnings and heat wave warnings have been issued, heat-related illnesses are a concern, so outdoor activities should be stopped and sufficient rest should be taken in the shade."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.