Alarm sounded over spread of feral raccoons in Japan
Staff Writer |
The population of non-indigenous raccoons gone feral has exploded across Japan, earning them public enemy status for the damage they cause to agricultural crops.
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Many of them are offspring of those, which kept as pets, were eventually set free by their owners or escaped, left to fend for themselves. The Environment Ministry, determined to stamp them out, says they are gaining a rapid foothold across Japan.
Raccoons may look adorable, but ministry officials consider the animal native to North America as nothing less than a pest that must be eradicated.
They are designated by the government as an Invasive Alien Species.
In just 10 years, racoons have expanded their habitats three-fold, according to ministry officials, and they are now found in 44 of the nation's 47 prefectures, up nine from about a decade ago.
The ministry is working with municipal governments to reduce their numbers.
Raccoons became a popular pet breed in the late 1970s after a hit TV anime series, "Rascal the Raccoon."
Raccoons are omnivorous, reproduce rapidly and prey on agricultural crops, vegetables and fruits. Annual losses to the farming industry are estimated to be in excess of 300 million yen ($2.7 million).
They also are very destructive to native ecosystems, and are a menace to cultural properties, such as shrine or temple buildings, as they nest in uninhabited structures.
A survey by the Biodiversity Center of Japan, an arm of the Environment Ministry, confirmed that racoons are expanding their range of habitat.
The center segregated the Japanese archipelago into 19,255 blocks of 5-kilometer squares, and asked municipal governments to confirm raccoon sightings in those areas between 2010 and 2017.
Raccoons were confirmed to be present in 3,862 blocks, or about 20 percent of the overall figure. This represented a three-fold increase from 1,338 blocks since the previous survey in 2005 and 2006.
The study showed that raccoons are rapidly reproducing and spreading, notably in Ibaraki, Tochigi, Mie, Shiga, and Fukui prefectures.
In Kagawa, Fukuoka and Saga prefectures, where few sightings were reported in the previous survey, the number of blocks that reported sightings increased significantly.
Raccoon habitations were confirmed for the first time in nine prefectures, including Miyagi, Shimane and Kumamoto.
The only prefectures that are free of feral raccoons turned out to be Akita, Kochi and Okinawa.
The study found that among other introduced species, masked palm civets inhabit 26 percent of the blocks, meaning they inhabit all prefectures of the main islands of Honshu and Shikoku, except Yamaguchi Prefecture.
Nutria, a giant rodent originally from South America, were found in 8 percent of the blocks and inhabiting 18 prefectures, largely in and around the Chugoku region. ■