Japan’s raccoon infestation has worsened significantly over the past decade, multiple Japanese news sources report.
According to the Tokyo government, nearly 1,300 raccoons were captured during the 2022 fiscal year. This is about five times the number captured 10 years ago, Japanese news agency Kyodo News reported.
In 2013, the Japanese government reiterated the need to combat raccoons as an invasive species.
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Raccoons are not native to Japan, but were brought to Japan in the 1970s following the popularity of the 1977 anime.Rascal the raccoon. ”
The anime is based on Sterling North’s autobiographical novel “Rascal: Memoirs of Better Times”. In this book, North talks about raising Rascal, a baby raccoon.
The Japanese government has announced that raccoons cause millions of dollars in agricultural damage in Japan each year. (Miroslav Srb / Comedy Wildlife 2022)
In response to this show, people in Japan began importing raccoons to keep as pets.
At its peak, more than 1,500 raccoons were imported into Japan each year, according to Smithsonian Magazine.
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But while the Japanese government moved quickly to ban both raccoon imports and keeping them as pets, it was too little, too late.
Raccoons are not easy pets, said owner Jaime Arslan. two rescue raccoonshe wrote on his Instagram page for raccoons Louie and Lucy.
Raccoons do not live in Japan, so they have no natural enemies. They have also proven to be very skilled at evading traps and other means of removal. (Photo partnership via Getty Images)
Raccoons “can be very destructive in your home,” so they need to be kept entertained, she says. Additionally, raccoons can “bite and bite” as a form of aggression or play.
Most veterinarians do not examine raccoons, and their treatment is also very expensive.
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Many Japanese families learned these lessons the hard way and released their pet raccoons into the wild when they could no longer keep them at home.
Because raccoons have no natural enemies in Japan, they were able to quickly establish a population, and are now found in each of Japan’s 47 prefectures, according to Kyodo News.
Raccoons are not legal as pets in Japan. (St. Petersburg)
In addition to the environmental damage, the raccoon invasion has also wreaked havoc on the country’s agricultural industry, Kyodo News reported.
In 2022, raccoons were blamed for nearly $3 million in damage to crops.
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According to Kyodo News, battling raccoons has proven extremely difficult due to their high intelligence.
Local efforts to trap raccoons and contact authorities as soon as they discover raccoon damage have “so far proven ineffective.”
Raccoons are also desperate to survive.
“Raccoons are also desperate to survive, so sometimes the traps break. Since only a small portion of the raccoons are actually captured, we are unable to grasp the entire range,” an official from a local government in western Tokyo told Kyodo News. Told.
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Japan is not the only country dealing with invasive raccoons. In Germany, raccoons were imported for their fur in the 1930s. The animals were released into the wild and were able to establish a population, similar to Japan.
According to Food & Wine magazine, in 2023 there were multiple reports of raccoons breaking into German homes, making messes and stealing beer. And in 2019, a drunk raccoon visited a Christmas market in Erfurt, Germany.
According to German media, the raccoon was shot and killed by a hunter after drinking leftover mulled wine.
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