Racoons cause trouble in Japan

By Lars Nicolaysen May 27, 2010, 14:14 GMT

Tokyo - In Japan people are complaining about an animal they were once infatuated with: The racoon.

The animals, which arrived in the Asian country from the US with people who wanted to keep them as pets, are now getting on Japanese nerves. The masked nocturnal bandits are causing problems, damaging wooden temples, shrines and agriculture.

'Trees and water are in the areas surrounding temples and shrines and this offers racoons a secure place within urban areas,' said zoologist and racoon expert Michiko Kawamichi in the newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun. The amount of damage caused by the animals is increasing. 'We need measures to prevent them from getting into buildings.'

The Japanese now are sounding the alarm. Racoons have been declared an 'invasive species,' according to the ministry of the environment. The predatory animals threaten the ecosystem just as the mongoose did after they were imported to eat snakes.

Racoons were very popular in Japan after their arrival. A cartoon series in the '70s called Araiguma Rasukara (Rascal Racoon) led to a true racoon boom, experts say. Many Japanese brought the cute masked animals into the country as pets. Over time they slipped into the wild and multiplied and are now considered a plague.

Japanese farmers have been complaining for years over increasing damage caused by racoons. In addition the animals like to make their homes in the country's traditional wooden houses, temples and shrines.

A recent survey of about 1,000 temples and shrines showed that about 80 per cent of the wooden structures show traces of racoons, according to media reports. The animals also don't leave out precious wooden figures in the sacred towers. When scratches were found on a Buddhist statue in the famous Joruri Temple, the entire country was shocked.

On Japan's northern island Hokkaido racoons have driven out so many foxes that the rat population there has exploded and people have taken to hunting them.

Racoons are competent at getting into spaces and making themselves at home. They multiply rapidly and they aren't picky about what they eat. They also have no natural predators. Thus, international treaties for the protection of species call for their strict control. Japan now forbids the importation or sale of racoons and keeping them as pets.

The Japanese cities, which suffer especially from damage caused by the animals, have made it possible for their residents to borrow cages from the city's animal control office. Residents can use the cages to catch the bothersome animals. The animal control office then picks up the racoon and has it euthanised.