What should we do if there are more and more of them?, Survey of nearly 300 residential communities in Shanghai living together with national second level protected animals | Wildlife | Residential Areas
The rapid development of cities has gradually blurred the boundaries between urban and suburban areas, causing many natural habitats for wildlife to no longer exist. As a result, a phenomenon known as "wildlife entering cities" has emerged.
What should community managers and residents do when there are suddenly new "neighbors" of unknown origin in their community?
The Jiefang Daily Shangguan News reporter learned today that a community management manual for common urban wildlife in Shanghai, jointly developed by Shanghai Forestry Station, Shanghai Wildlife and Plant Protection Association, Fudan University, Shanshui Nature Conservation Center and other units, will be released.
This community management manual is the first customized "guide" for people living under the same roof as wildlife in Shanghai to achieve harmonious coexistence. It also provides personalized solutions for residents, neighborhood committees/property owners, and other different groups of people.
Nearly 300 communities have raccoon dogs
With the continuous improvement and enhancement of the living environment, Shanghai is increasingly favored by wildlife.
As of May this year, Shanghai has recorded 519 species of birds belonging to 251 genera and 80 families in 22 orders, accounting for 34.6% of the total bird species in China. Wild birds account for 84% of the total wild animal species in Shanghai. The latest data shows that Shanghai has monitored and recorded 150 species of nationally protected wildlife, over 325 species of terrestrial wildlife with important ecological, scientific, and social value, and 46 species of locally protected wildlife.
Some of these wild animals are afraid of humans and try to breed as far away from the main human activity areas as possible, while others tend to be neighbors and "lurk" in many high-quality ecological communities in Shanghai.
The national second level key protected animal, raccoon dogs, is a typical "wild animal entering the city". They seem to prefer and adapt to the urban environment. In recent years, raccoon dogs have flourished in Shanghai, with a population of about 3000 to 5000, and their distribution area continues to expand.
According to Wang Fang, a researcher at the School of Life Sciences at Fudan University, based on questionnaire surveys organized in 2021 and 2022, combined with visits, volunteer feedback, and complaint information provided by the forestry department on the 12345 platform, as of November last year, there were at least 260 communities or green spaces in Shanghai with raccoons distributed. Except for Chongming, raccoons were recorded in all other districts of Shanghai, with the highest and most concentrated distribution in Songjiang, Qingpu, and Minhang. This year's latest survey also found that the number of communities with raccoon dogs in Shanghai has increased, approaching 300.
In 2022, Shanghai Forestry Station, Fudan University Conservation Biology Research Group, Shanshui Nature Conservation Center and other units jointly launched the "raccoon population census". This is the first urban wild mammal survey activity in China to be conducted in a citizen scientific organization method in a mega city. The raccoon density in communities with raccoon distribution was calculated: out of the 50 surveyed communities, 22 have raccoon distribution, with an average of 10.82 raccoons per community and an average density of 1.08 raccoons per hectare.
This value is considered as a benchmark value, and if the density of raccoons in the community does not exceed it, the raccoons are basically in a "latent" state; The density far exceeds it, which will greatly increase the probability of human and raccoon encounters and even conflicts.
The raccoon dog photographed by volunteers while investigating the community was wearing a GPS collar and photographed by Sun Gonghao.
One of the prerequisites for achieving harmonious coexistence under the same roof is to "divide and govern", and not easily enter the territory of the other party. When the number and density of raccoons in a residential area increase sharply, more and more raccoons may face survival pressure and frequently come out from hidden corners such as green belts and building settlement cracks, enter the main living space of humans, search for water sources, cat food and dog food, and vegetables planted by residents, or flip through wet trash cans and wet garbage bags on the ground to "pick up leaks", and the possibility of encountering or even conflicting with people increases accordingly.
Generally, raccoon dogs can give birth to five or six offspring per year. Some studies suggest that under continuous feeding by residents, these young raccoon dogs do not have to worry about food and drink, and their survival rate is quite high. In a community with more than 20 adult raccoon dogs, after one year of breeding, the population may increase to over 100.
"The issue of people and raccoons living in the same community has gradually gained attention since 2018 and 2019. Today, it is still a relatively new social topic and research direction." Ji Lei, head of the Wildlife and Plant Protection Department at the Shanghai Forestry Station, said that in recent years, it is evident that the whole society has strengthened its understanding of raccoons. However, many residents still lack understanding of raccoons and confuse them with wild dogs, raccoons, and other animals, and treat raccoons in the wrong way, which is detrimental to people and raccoons. Under the trend of rapid growth in the population and distribution density of raccoon dogs, it is urgent and necessary for the competent authorities to strengthen the popularization of knowledge related to wildlife and provide guidance and intervention for communities with a trend of "losing control".
In the future, the experience of harmonious coexistence with raccoons and successful control of raccoon populations in these communities will be extracted and absorbed into the "Shanghai Urban Common Wildlife" Community Management Manual, and promoted to more communities.
Stop indulging and adhere to the Four Nos
"The Shanghai raccoon looks at Songjiang, and the Songjiang raccoon looks at Shanghai." This sentence, circulated among some wildlife conservation volunteers, to some extent reflects the number of raccoons in the Shanghai community.
"The second 'raccoon population census' just ended last month, and the specific data of our community has not been calculated yet. However, according to the representative of the residents, there may be thirty to forty.' Xu Hui, the secretary of the party branch of the residential area of Yushanghai, admitted that he had just started working in Yushanghai not long ago and had only heard a little about many raccoons in Yushanghai. When he witnessed five or six raccoons walking in groups by the rockeries and rivers in the community at night, he felt a great shock in his heart. Along with it came concerns: 'What should residents do if they encounter so many raccoons? Is there any way to control their numbers?'"
"In the process of participating in the development of community management manuals, we referred to a large number of cases of scientific treatment of wild animals in domestic and foreign communities, such as how to prevent raccoons from flipping over the trash cans at the doorstep of residents." Feng Yidi, a scientific consultant at the Shanshui Nature Conservation Center, said that controlling food and drink and blocking their habitats without harming raccoons are the two "magic weapons" for effectively controlling the number of raccoons. Especially, controlling food and drink, commonly known as "hungry walking", is the simplest and most effective method. In addition, the effectiveness of placing odor stimulating substances such as camphor balls, pepper powder, chili water, etc. around garbage bins is being tested in some residential areas in Shanghai.
The raccoon dog rummaging through the garbage in the night.
In the summer of 2020, due to media reports of dozens of raccoons appearing in the community, the Milano Guidu community in Songjiang District became the focus of attention for a while. At that time, under the joint guidance of the forestry department, universities, and social organizations, the community quickly forced some raccoon dogs away by strengthening the management of domestic waste disposal points, draining landscape water bodies and water sources such as spray tanks, and negotiating with cat lovers to standardize feeding methods. This has made Milan Nuogui a model for many communities troubled by raccoons to learn from.
"There have been almost no complaints about raccoons this year," said Chen Jie, Secretary of the Party General Branch of Xiangyangqiao Residential Area in Sijing Town. Since last year, residents of Milan Nuogui City have generally reported that they no longer see raccoons as often as before, and even the security guards who are most likely to encounter raccoons during patrols at night and in the early morning say it is difficult to see them. She believes that being able to control the number of raccoons is also related to timely filling the settlement cracks in residential buildings during the non breeding period of raccoons from last year to this year. "The borrowed house is gone, so we need to move."
Xu Hui said that the community management manual was published in a timely manner. Referring to this "strategy", they were recently rectifying the "landing garbage" in the green belt of the community. Through the community's WeChat official account, they regularly exposed the video of littering captured by the monitoring, urging some residents to change their bad habits. At the same time, it was suggested that the residents on the first floor add isolation fences for their own fruits and vegetables, so that raccoons could completely break the idea of eating and drinking from human neighbors.
The Royal Shanghai Neighborhood Committee also collaborated with the Shanshui Nature Conservation Center to launch the "Harmony of Raccoons" project, inviting experts to give lectures in the community and taking residents to chat with raccoons in the community, teaching everyone the "four no" ways of treating wild animals scientifically: not afraid, not feeding, not touching, and not harming.
"Human indulgence, such as uncontrolled feeding by residents, is the main reason for the sharp increase in the number of raccoons in the community, and may also lead to abnormal behavior of raccoons. People believe that feeding is a natural thing, and they are not afraid of humans or have a bad temper. The main difficulty at present is how to regulate feeding behavior. According to expert advice, raccoons have weak climbing and jumping abilities. They can place cat food at a height of at least 1 meter from the ground, so that raccoons cannot reach it. However, who will invest in the construction and maintenance of this improved version of cat food feeding frame is a problem.".
In addition, some feeders are accustomed to putting cat food in boxes, and after putting it in, people walk away. As a result, the cat doesn't eat it, and the raccoons eat it. These feeders are advised to wait until the cat finishes eating the cat food before leaving or to clean up the scene before leaving. They will also be asked, "How can I feed you?"
"Although it is very difficult, we will persist in finding a solution that is acceptable to all parties through joint governance." Xu Hui said that Yu Shanghai may start by standardizing the time of advertising, advertising during the day, and advertising is not encouraged at night, staggered from the late night to early morning hours when most raccoons appear.
The Shanghai Wildlife Protection Regulations, which will come into effect on October 1st this year, also stipulate that feeding wild animals that grow and reproduce naturally in the wild environment is prohibited, and legal education will become an effective means of discouraging the indiscriminate distribution of cat food.
