A government study shows that about six thousand wild animal and plant species are living in the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone(DMZ), a strip of land separating the two Koreas. 

The National Institute of Ecology released the figures Tuesday, following a four-year survey since 2014 on the DMZ spanning from the east coast to the western plains. It also incorporated data compiled from as far back as 1974.

The institute said that as many as five-thousand-929 wildlife species are living in the zone, including 101 endangered animals and plants. It said that the endangered species, including musk deer and otter, account for 38 percent of all the endangered species living in South Korea.

Among the species found in the DMZ, insects took up the greatest share with about three-thousand species recorded, followed by plants at around two-thousand.