Some netizens asked: Why are wild birds often seen in cities, but wild mammals are rare? In fact, there are many wild mammals in the city, butMost of them are burrowing, nocturnal animals, they usually only come out at night, and many people may think they are rare because of this.
The wild vertebrate best adapted to human communities is definitely the rat——No one, rats have never left human communities since ancient times. Even in the era when humans migrated on the ocean in canoes, rats could hide in a corner of the canoe and migrate with people and harm the ecology of various uninhabited islands.
Everybody hates rats, but you just can’t get rid of them!
However, in this article, I am not going to write about how well rats adapt to human communities. I want to write about a more interesting and unexpected one.
The following mammals are national second-level protected animals, but they have quietly settled in Shanghai and are native to Shanghai.urban wildlife,Even the population density is quite exaggerated.
Source: Shangguan News
This israccoon dog, raccoon dog (hé) of the same kind, it is a kind ofCanidaeThe animal looks a bit like a raccoon or a red panda, and it looks quite cute.
But can you imagine, there are already at least 300 raccoon dogs in Shanghai?Within the communityAnjia - truly getting along with others.
In 2020, it was reported that there were 60 wild raccoon dogs in a residential area in Shanghai. Since then, Shanghai and raccoon dogs have begun to receive widespread attention.
In 2021,The raccoon dog is listed as a national second-level protected wild animal.. It was also in this year that the number of raccoon dogs in Shanghai began to be roughly counted - there may be 3,000 to 5,000 wild raccoon dogs in urban Shanghai.
Those raccoon dogs that have made their home in the community sometimes conflict with pet dogs, sometimes compete with stray cats for cat food, sometimes cross the road in groups, and sometimes two or three together rummage through the trash in search of food.
△ Digging through trash
△ Forming gangs in the community
△ Grab cat food
△ Look for earthworms and insects in the green belt
By 2022, scientists will begin a "raccoon dog population census" in an attempt to scientifically count how many raccoon dogs there are in Shanghai so that they can better coexist with them.
At the end of last month, Shanghai just concluded the fourth Shanghai "Raccoon Dog Census". The relevant data for 2025 has not been released yet. We can only see the data for 2024.
Source: Shangguan News
The chart above shows the changes in raccoon density in the community during repeated surveys in the three "raccoon dog population censuses" up to 2024.
It can be seen from the chart that the number of raccoon dogs is declining overall. This is about raccoon dogs in the past three years."No contact, no feeding, no harm"The result of publicity.
△ This is a feeding machine for stray cats. It is deliberately elevated to prevent raccoon dogs from grabbing food. Source: Shangguan News
So what kind of animal is the raccoon dog, and why did it “settled” in Shanghai?
Many people believe that the raccoon dogs in Shanghai took root in Shanghai because some people abandoned them. This statement is not correct. For an animal of raccoon size and breeding conditions, it is difficult to establish such a large population just by abandoning it.
In fact, they are native species in Shanghai., they lost their homes just because of urban expansion, but now with the emphasis on urban greening, they have returned because of their strong adaptability.
The raccoon dog is a typicalgeneralized species, they can eat anything, from fruits to starchy foods, to insects, and even prey birds and rodents. They are able to adapt to a variety of environments with ease.
In China, they range from the Greater and Lesser Khinggan Mountains and Shaanxi in the north, to the Yangtze River Delta, Fujian, and Guangdong in the east, and to Yunnan and Guizhou in the south. They are found in nearly half of China.
However, another interesting phenomenon of raccoon dogs in Shanghai is that the population density in urban areas is denser than that in urban-rural areas. Some experts believe that this may be because the greening restoration in urban areas is better than in urban and rural areas.
on the other hand,In cities, raccoon dogs are safer, people don't hurt them, and they have easier access to food.
It is believed that they are often seen catching ornamental fish with little effort, and can also easily catch rats to eat. The rubbish pile originally belonged to rats, but after the raccoons arrived, it became a "buy one, get one free" offer.
There is also cat food that can be seen everywhere - this cat food is fed to stray cats by caring people, but it is easily snatched by raccoon dogs.
In addition, the average greening rate of residential areas in Shanghai is as high as about 40%. Raccoons can dig out earthworms and catch insects in these bushes and grass.
In short, their food source is quite sufficient, and the only threat is pet dogs. However, in cities, large pet dogs will not be released randomly, and small pet dogs cannot defeat raccoon dogs at all.
In addition, city life has actually changed the behavior of raccoon dogs.
They were originally typicalNocturnal animals that are also solitary, but now the raccoon dogs in Shanghai obviously come out to be active during the day, and often come out to bask in the sun in winter (in fact, they hibernate in cold areas - they are the only canids that hibernate). At the same time, they have also become obviously gregarious - I don't know if this is caused by more food.
Finally, let me talk about an urban wild mammal that is very common in Zhejiang!
weasel(Picture above), they are also nocturnal animals. Under the night lights of the city, their hair looks very bright yellow, not the brownish yellow in the photo, which is very recognizable. I have seen wild weasels in the main urban areas of three Zhejiang cities. They are extremely fast, darting out and disappearing like lightning.
Weasels are predators, and their diet is far less extensive than that of raccoon dogs, but they have still adapted to cities. I think it is mainly because there are too many rats, and weasels are good at catching rats.
In fact, there are quite a few mammals like raccoon dogs and weasels that have adapted to cities, but most of them areNocturnal animals.
It’s interesting to think about it. In the age of dinosaurs, mammals lived in the shadow of dinosaurs. Most of them could only live in caves and be active at night. But now, cave-dwelling nocturnal animals have adapted to cities and humans just like they adapted to dinosaurs.
refer to:
http://www.zgxwzk.chinanews.com.cn/survey/2021-08-21/13556.shtml