According to Kyodo news, Tokyo authorities are taking active measures against North American raccoons, whose population in the city and surrounding areas has grown in recent years: 1,282 raccoons were caught in 2022, 259 in 2012.
It is believed that the animals bred after they were brought into the country as pets and either escaped or were thrown away.
Raccoons have become popular pets in In Japan, after the famous animated series “Raccoon Cheater” in the 1970s.
Raccoons threaten crops: according to the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, in 2022, the animals caused $2.8 million worth of damage to farmland. It is difficult to cope with them — they have learned how to destroy traps set by biologists.
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