Raccoon Dog

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This article deals with the wild animal; see tanuki for this animal in Japanese folklore and popular culture.
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Raccoon Dog
Two raccoon dogs
Two raccoon dogs
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Canidae
Genus: Nyctereutes
Temminck, 1839
Species: N. procyonoides
Binomial name
Nyctereutes procyonoides
(Gray, 1834)

The Raccoon Dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides "nycto-" = Gr. "night," "ereutes" = Gr. "wanderer," "procyon" = "raccoon," "-oides" = Gr. "-oid") is a member of the canidae family (which includes dogs, wolves, and foxes) and is indigenous to east Asia. It is not a true dog, and is the only extant species in its genus Nyctereutes. It is named for its superficial resemblance to the non-canid raccoon. The animal carries historical and cultural significance in Japan, where it is called tanuki, usually translated as "badger".

Raccoon Dogs are native to Japan, southeastern Siberia and Manchuria. Between 1929 and 1955, they were introduced to the European part of the Soviet Union and have spread rapidly since. They are now abundant throughout Scandinavia and the Baltic states, and have been reported as far as France and Italy[1]. Average adult head and body length is about 65 cm (2 ft) and weight ranges from 4 to 10 kg (9 to 22 lb). Average litters consist of 5 pups. Longevity is 3–4 years in the wild and up to 11 years in captivity. They are found in both plains and mountainous regions and are especially common in woodlands. Raccoon Dogs are commonly seen near villages and in rural areas.

Raccoon Dog populations have declined in recent years[citation needed] due to hunting, fur trade [2] and fur trapping, urbanization, an increase of animals associated with human civilization such as pets and abandoned animals, and diseases that may be transmitted between them.

Contents

[edit] Classification

There is some debate in the scientific community regarding speciation between the Siberian subspecies (N. p. ussuriensis), Chinese subspecies (N. p. procyonoides) and the Japanese Raccoon Dog subspecies (N. p. viverrinus) in that due to chromosome[3], behavioral and weight differences, the Japanese Raccoon Dog should be considered a separate species from the two other subspecies.[citation needed]

[edit] Behavior

Like many other canines, they are omnivorous. However, their diets are atypically diverse, consisting of invertebrates, frogs, lizards, rodents and birds along with seeds and berries. Those living near the ocean will also eat crabs and scavenged marine life.

Raccoon Dogs are secretive and not very aggressive; they prefer to hide or scream rather than fight, and play dead to avoid predators. They are monogamous; some fights occur between males for the females. Mating season begins when Raccoon Dogs emerge from their burrows. The female is in heat for about six days. The baculum tie in coitus lasts about six minutes, shorter than other canids. When the cubs are born after a gestation of about 60 days, the male will assist in cub-rearing, first by providing food to his mate and then also for the cubs when they are weaned, about 50 days after birth. The young are physically and sexually mature after one year.

The Raccoon Dog is the only canid to go into torpor through the winter months. It is also unusual in that its curved claws enable it to climb trees; the only other canid with this ability is the gray fox. It does not bark and it turns its tail into an inverted U to express dominance. The brain of the Raccoon Dog is poorly developed compared to dogs and wolves and its teeth are small.

[edit] Use for fur

An investigation [4]by three animal protection groups into the Chinese fur trade in 2004 and part of 2005 asserts that there are an estimated 1.5 million raccoon dogs being raised for fur in China. The report claims that killing methods include first hitting the animals on the head with a stick or slamming the animal into the ground to stun them, but that "a significant number of animals remain fully conscious during the skinning process and started to writhe and move around." [5] Video taken during the investigation [6] shows a raccoon dog apparently conscious during and after the skinning process. A 2005 follow-up article by the Beijing News [7] reports: "On this particular day around half the raccoon dogs and foxes were skinned alive like this."

[edit] Sean John incident

On 22 December 2006, fur-hooded jackets made by the Sean John clothing company were pulled off the shelves of Macy's Department Stores when the nation’s largest animal protection organization concluded that the garments were actually made from raccoon dog. Previously advertised as a faux fur product, they were later identified. Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, added that the issue is an “industry-wide problem” and its investigation demonstrated that retailers and designers “aren’t paying close enough attention to the fur trim they are selling.”[8]

[edit] The Raccoon Dog and Fur Trade: the other perspective

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However the Chinese government deny that their fur farming methods are cruel and have even suggested that some of the videos have even been staged; as no further evidence of where the videos were shot has been forthcoming: http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/ce/cech/fra/xwss/t185842.htm. This part of the wiki entry is NOT from China and is from an academic involved in Conservation and Anthropology; concerned about the balance of this wikipedia entry. The raccoon dog it is worth noting is found in the wild throughout Northern Europe and Asia, and has spread largely due to the fact that it is valued for its fur by a variety of native peoples, and also by the western fur trade; in European fur farming it is known as Finn Raccoon http://www.sagafurs.com/qualitysystem/farming/echics/index.php. A recent EEC report into the fur trade revealed in fact that fur farming in the west has high welfare standards http://ec.europa.eu/food/fs/sc/scah/out74_en.pdf. This evidence was tampered with to such an extent that the top welfare scientists involved have felt compelled to publish this report saying that their findings had been "politicised".

As far as the raccoon dog....and many other native species such as sable and fox...are concerned, it is claimed by both the trade and academic and conservation sources that fur trade does help protect the habitat of these animals: http://www.traffic.org/news/TEUR_Russia_fur_trade.pdf http://ars.sdstate.edu/animaliss/furfarm.html also http://www.ifcnr.com/whoweare.html and http://www.furbearers.org/. Many Siberian tribes rely totally for income on fur trade; and 80% of furs are produce of the Boreal forest region; up to 22% it is suggested is native produce and huge economic damage has been inflicted on native economies by the Animal Rights movement https://www.ec.gc.ca/soer-ree/English/products/factsheets/94-1.cfm and http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/canada/Alberta-to-Nova-Scotia/The-Northwest-Territories.html Krasnoyarsk in Evenkyia is just one of the fur producing areas with a large native involvement and though there are no figures for Raccoon dog the area produces up to a million animal fur pelts annually in an area where the raccoon dog is indigenous : http://www.sibtours.com/?GroupId=275&ParentID=103 . In fact modern alternatives such as oil present a far greater danger to the habitat of the region, and are being fiercely resisted by native peoples: http://www.survival-international.org/news.php?country_id=13 http://www.hunmagyar.org/turan/khaman/ind.html

There may indeed be questions of ethics regarding chinese fur farming, but it is also worth noting that with a gene pool of 1.5 million animals claimed above because of it the raccoon dog is not endangered. A far greater threat in Siberia may be habitat destruction ( http://home.planet.nl/~innusupp/english/forbes2.html ) and disease probably from dogs of workers settling there in communist period; certainly distemper is a transferable disease : http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=10907692&dopt=Abstract. A further source for specific clash between oil exploration and habitat destruction versus traditional use is here; http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/56/001.html

In undisturbed areas where the animals are hunted for fur(worth noting that the Evenk also have fur farms) they are abundant; in Japan for example the 40 to 70 000 raccoon dog hunted for their fur are part of a strict wildlife managemnt plan that enables a healthy population which is as a result classified as common there http://www.env.go.jp/en/wpaper/1995/eae240000000040.html.

The WWF have fostered areas of traditional hunting use in Siberia, which have been called sable reserves as the local people are so reliant on the sable (but also fox and raccoon dog which is indigenous)for both food and income from sale of fur: http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/where_we_work/europe/news/index.cfm?uNewsID=13895

[edit] References

  1. ^ K. Kauhala. 1994. The Raccoon Dog: a successful canid[1]


For "the Other perspective"

"Trapping a Living: Conservation and Socio Economic Aspects of the Fur Trade in the Russian Far east by Dronova and Sheskabov for Traffic Europ-Russia Organisation

Report of the Environment Agency Japan 1995

EEC Agriculture and Food Dept fur farm welfare report address by Scientists involved led by Dr Dancer

Article: WWF form www.panda.org their own website on areas of traditional use in Russian East

Report: Survival International: Evenk and Khanty block roads used by Oil companies with Reindeer from their website

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