Raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides viverrinus Temminck) were used as a model species to study wildlife management and conservation issues in the countryside of Japan. Radio-tracking data were used to analyse habitat use, movements, home range configuration and stability, social aspects, and factors influencing raccoon dog behaviour. Comparisons were drawn with European badgers (Meles meles Linnaeus) in the UK in order to highlight aspects of movements and habitat use of omnivorous Carnivores. Two key issues concerning the conservation of raccoon dogs in Japan were investigated: road-kills and agricultural damage. The Japan Highway Public Corporation provided road-kill data on the National Expressways, and a questionnaire survey was conducted on agricultural damage to local governments, authorities of wildlife administration. Socio-cultural issues on wildlife conservation in Japan were critically reviewed and discussed. Two types of habitat users appeared to exist in the study area. One type of raccoon dogs ('mountain type') inhabited a more semi-natural environment, including secondary forest and herbaceous areas, whereas a second type ('village type') inhabited more managed environments, such as rice fields and cropland. The results suggested that habitat selection occurred at home-range and location scales and differed between the two types of raccoon dogs. The mean size of home range of the raccoon dogs was 111 ± 16.9 ha (95% kernel estimate) and 160±34.5ha (95% maximum convex polygon (MCP)). There was no significant difference in home-range size between age classes or sexes. Seasonal home ranges were larger in yearlings than adults, and largest in autumn; and there was no difference between sexes. Season affected nightly movements, i.e. mean inter-fix speed, mean 100% MCP, and mean range span over the night; however, sex and age did not. All variables of nightly movement were smallest in winter. The mean fractal dimension of movements, i.e. degree of 'tortuousity' with self similarity, was 1.226 and significantly differed from 1.0 (a straight line) and 2.0 (a Brownian random movement). The mountain type had significantly larger fractal dimension than the village type, possibly reflecting habitat complexity and/or heterogeneity. Badgers generally preferred pasture and avoided arable habitat, but showed some variability by year and at scales of selection. A Badger Removal Operation may have influenced habitat selection of the badgers. The mean size of home range of badgers was 56.1 ± 7.7 ha (95% kernel estimates) and 56.2 ± 7.3 ha (95% MCP). The mean fractal dimension of the badgers' movements was 1.198 and was significantly different from 1.0 and 2.0. The raccoon dogs and the badgers showed similarities in movements, such as nightly home range, range span over night, and fractal dimension of movements. Sexual differences in spatial use existed in badgers but not in raccoon dogs. Road-kills of raccoon dogs appeared to be the highest, in percentage terms, of all wildlife species in Japan and this figure was linearly related to the traffic. Some road-features, such as whether the road was in a cutting and its proximity to water, were positively associated with road-kills, while the presence of coniferous plantations as roadside habitat was dissociated with road-kills. Nationwide estimates of road-kills of raccoon dogs, based on available data for National Expressways only, were made with different assumptions. Conservative estimates put the number of road-kills at 110,000 - 370,000 per year. The potential for road-kill numbers to be used, after controlling for traffic data, as an index of population trends, is discussed. In a questionnaire survey of agricultural damage sent to 46 prefectures, all respondents (96%) reported some damage by wildlife, and over 80% of respondents reported macaque and boar damage, while nearly 70 % reported raccoon dog and deer damage. Sixty-nine agricultural products were reported to have been damaged by wildlife, and 41 of these by raccoon dogs. Maize and fruits were major crops damaged by raccoon dogs. Although about a half of respondents employed culling, its effectiveness is unclear. Although Japan seems far behind other developing countries in its approach to wildlife conservation issues, the situation could be substantially improved through increased scientific understanding and education. Radical changes may be also required in the legal status of wildlife and its management schemes.

Thesis (M. S.)--Ohio State University, 2008. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 91-100).

Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio State University, 2008. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 66-72).

No description available.

The ecology of raccoons (Procyon lotor) in High Knob Recreation Area, Virginia was studied from 1988 to 1990. Thirty raccoons were trapped and radio-collared, and 123 raccoons were collected from hunters and subsequently necropsied. Hunting was the primary cause of adult mortality. The annual survival rate was 0.54 according to a method described by Pollock et al. (1989). The finite rate of increase as calculated from life and fecundity tables was 0.929 indicating the population may have been decreasing slightly. Most raccoons examined were in good condition based on two condition indices. Good condition of these raccoons is likely related to the areas’ excellent mast crops in 1988 and 1989. Only 77% of live-trapped and 80% of hunter-collected raccoons produced litters. Lower productivity in High Knob raccoons as compared to other studies is believed to be habitat quality related. Acorns (Quercus spp.) and beech nuts (Fagus grandifolia) were the most important food items making up 29.2% and 20.8% of aggregate weight, respectively. Home range sizes were larger among males (649.1 ± 112.6 ha) and females (239.0 ± 40.0 ha) at High Knob than home range sizes reported from high quality habitats, which may reflect the poorer quality of habitat at High Knob. Home range overlap was extensive. On average, 67% of each home range was overlapped by 3 to 4 other home ranges. Activity and movements were depressed during the winter. Consistent use by raccoons of any particular forest stand type in relation to its availability was not found at High Knob. This is probably because of the homogeneity of the forest stand types. It is unlikely that raccoon populations will ever be as high at High Knob as in lowland areas due to poor habitat suitability. / Master of Science

We analyzed how land-use patterns and changes in urbanization influence positive raccoon rabies cases in an established enzootic area. County resolution was used and the study area included all 159 counties in Georgia. We obtained data on raccoons submitted from 2006 through 2010 for testing at the state public health labs due to exposure incidents with people or domesticated animals. The land-use patterns were extracted from the US Geological Survey’s National Land Cover Database from both 2001 and 2006. Odds ratios were calculated on 16 land-use variables that included natural topography, agricultural development, and urbanization. An additional variable, Submissions/Population density, was used to normalize counties and to account for population bias associated with rabies surveillance. The use of this demographic variable was substantiated by GIS clustering analysis. The outcome variable was heavily right skewed and over dispersed and therefore a negative binomial regression was used in this count statistics technique. The final analysis showed that low intensity residential development is associated with raccoon rabies cases while evergreen forest offers protection. This study supports the hypothesis that the raccoon rabies enzootic is maintained in those edge ecosystems of urbanization. It is advocated here that the public health animal rabies database to include GPS coordinates when reporting wildlife rabies submissions for testing to improve the resolution when studying the disease ecology of enzootic rabies.

Title from title page of PDF (University of Missouri--St. Louis, viewed February 23, 2010). Includes bibliographical references.

Traditional views of food web dynamics have characterized species interactions as linear and direct. However, modern food web theory suggests that interactions can also be nonlinear and indirect, so that disturbance at one trophic level is transmitted throughout the community. Many previous studies have demonstrated that the removal of top predators from terrestrial ecosystems can have broad-scale impacts on community ecology. I examined the direct and indirect effects of raccoon removal from sea turtle nesting beaches in east-central Florida during the summers of 2003 and 2004. Raccoon and ghost crab predation are among the highest causes of egg mortality for sea turtles in Florida and raccoons are intraguild predators of ghost crabs. Because of the damage done to sea turtle nests, raccoons have been removed from some beaches during the sea turtle nesting season. I compared the diet and demography of a raccoon population that had experienced two decades of raccoon removal to a population that had previously been unmanipulated. I found that long-term raccoon removal had created a significantly male-biased sex ratio in that population. I also examined the indirect effects of raccoon removal by comparing the abundances of raccoons and ghost crabs at four study sites using passive tracking plots. My data suggest intraguild predation by raccoons limits ghost crab abundance and that reduced raccoon abundance allowed ghost crab abundance to increase, resulting in a net increase in sea turtle egg predation. These results support my hypothesis that intraguild predation of ghost crabs by raccoons is an influential interaction on sea turtle nesting beach community dynamics.

No description available.

No description available.