A survey of raccoons, a national second-level protected wildlife, was recently released. Songjiang, Minhang and Qingpu districts are the most popular districts in Shanghai, of which Songjiang District is the most frequent area for raccoons, with 78 raccoons, parks, green areas and other plots of land distributed.
The relevant person in charge of the project team said that no matter in which city, coexistence with wild animals is a challenge faced by the collision of urbanization and ecological civilization, and as citizens, we should learn to "turn a blind eye" to raccoons: not afraid of raccoons, not feeding raccoons, and not touching raccoons. Raccoons are most often found in Songjiang, and 78 communities and parklands have raccoons distributed From the survey results, Songjiang, Minhang and Qingpu districts are the places with the most raccoons in Shanghai. Among them, Songjiang is the most frequent area for raccoons, with 78 raccoons distributed in 78 communities, parks, green areas and other plots. Most of the communities in Songjiang, especially in the areas of Sijing and Sheshan, are the base camps of raccoon life. Minhang and Qingpu also have large, contiguous raccoon distributions. The distribution of Yangpu, Pudong and other places is relatively sporadic. There is currently no evidence of raccoon distribution on Chongming Island.
According to the investigators, from the local population of Songjiang, in the past, where the Songjiang rice fields were everywhere, they could occasionally see raccoons moving in the fields and by the river, and now, as indigenous people, the raccoons have also adapted to the new environment of high-rise buildings, "The digging skills of the raccoons are not strong, so the holes ready under the wall base are very popular with them, and they only need to dig up the floating soil on the surface of the wall-based green belt to find a safe underground palace." It is reported that this kind of hole using the wall base accounts for more than 80% of the raccoon caves surveyed.
In addition, the rockery is also one of the places with the highest occupancy rate of raccoons. The rockery is not only a favorite ready-made hollow, but also close to the water's edge and green belt, with abundant water and food, which can be described as food and accommodation. "On the whole, the new community, villa area, and campus in the suburbs have a large green area, so it is not difficult to see the raccoon." People like communities with high greening rates, and raccoons also like it. Some new communities have not yet been inhabited, and the natural distribution of raccoons in the surrounding areas has spread to the green belt of the community, taking the lead in becoming residents of the community. In contrast, in many Shikumen, commercial areas and some old residential areas with a high degree of hardening of the road in Downtown Shanghai, it is difficult to see the traces of raccoons. Investigators introduced.
What do raccoons eat when they live in these places? Investigators say there is no detailed study of Shanghai's raccoon's diet, but it is an opportunist who relies heavily on habitat, seasonal, and other factors, that is, what is eaten around, "In our observation, Shanghai raccoons like to look for food in the soil and water of the green belt, and occasionally eat cat food and wet garbage fed to stray cats." ”
The rockery is one of the caves where raccoons like to live, and the citizens provide more than 200 raccoon clues investigators to go to more than 300 communities This survey was jointly initiated by the Shanshui Nature Conservation Center and the Wang Fang Conservation Biology Research Team of Fudan University under the guidance of the Wildlife Conservation Department of the Municipal Greening and City Appearance Administration, the Municipal Forestry Station, and the Municipal Park Management Affairs Center. Starting from the cities and suburbs of the Yangtze River Delta, the project will carry out the investigation and research of urban wildlife such as raccoons, weasels and hedgehogs, and look forward to exploring the possibility of improving the living conditions of urban wildlife. The raccoon is a major entry point for the Citizen Scientist in the City project in Shanghai.
According to the investigators, from the time the project was launched last year, the information on the wild raccoons in Shanghai that the project team had was only based on infrared monitoring points in urban parks such as Minhang Sports Park and Chenshan Botanical Garden, and there was sporadic feedback from some community residents. Unexpectedly, after the launch of the activity, the citizens provided a lot of information and human support. Last year alone, the project team received more than 200 valuable pieces of information, and even Pudong, Yangpu and other places that were once considered to be far away from the distribution area of the raccoon have observation records of the raccoon, and the number and distribution breadth of the raccoon in Sheshan, Songjiang University Town and other places far exceed the previous understanding. Together with volunteers, the project team conducted on-site inspections of the information provided by the citizens and collected the distribution information of the Shanghai raccoon as comprehensively as possible. In the end, more than 300 communities had the presence of investigators investigating late at night.
In the community of Milano Guidu in Matsue, raccoons eating cat food (data map)
Last year, a raccoon incident broke out in a small area of Sijing in Songjiang, and the rapid expansion of the population had a certain impact on the normal life of the residents of the community.
So, if the public encounters a raccoon, how should they deal with it? Wildlife conservation experts say cities, while human-dominated ecosystems, are also home to many wildlife. Coexistence with wildlife is a challenge for the collision of urbanization and ecological civilization, regardless of the city. If the public encounters a raccoon, first of all, do not be afraid, secondly, do not touch it, let alone feed it, just as it does not exist, so as to "turn a blind eye". The raccoon is a nocturnal animal that does not actively attack people. Usually, when it sees a person approaching, it will first be on alert and then quickly flee. Urban raccoons are accustomed to human activities, and the distance from alert to escape is shorter than that of many wild animals, so many people mistakenly believe that raccoons are not afraid of people. "We've looked at hundreds of raccoons, and we've never had anyone get straight up to within 5 meters, let alone actively hurt people." Experts say.
Last year's raccoon incident in Sijing was caused by human feeding of stray animals, which shows that human feeding may lead to raccoon outbreaks in small local populations. Experts say that too much local population density is not a good thing, it may exacerbate the spread of scabies mites and the like, increase intraspecific conflicts, increase the impact on other organisms such as humans... If it is fed directly to the raccoon, it will also cause a change in the behavior of the raccoon: when the raccoon knows that humans are the feeder, it will not only lose its vigilance, but also take the initiative to approach begging. This will not only incapacitate the raccoons in the wild, but also increase the potential for conflict between the raccoons. In addition, as wild animals, if the raccoon is actively attacked by large dogs, people, etc., it will also desperately resist.
Leashing when walking a dog and reducing the free range of stray cats can reduce the direct contact between most pets and raccoons. If you see a small raccoon on the side of the road in early summer, you cannot pet it out of kindness and take it away for breeding. It is reported that in the course of the investigation, investigators have also heard and seen a lot of unnecessary harm to the raccoon. At the beginning of this year, the raccoon was upgraded to a national second-level protected animal, and all kinds of acts of catching and injuring wild raccoons without authorization were prohibited by law. If the presence of raccoons does affect people's daily lives, they can contact the wildlife protection department to deal with it. The project team said that it will further investigate the distribution of raccoons in Shanghai and welcomes the public to provide clues.
Source: Morning News, Zhouzhi APP Reporter Yu Wenyan/ Photo Wang Fang Shanshui Nature Conservation Center