(ORDO NEWS) — Raccoons are not native to Japan, but over the past few decades, these furry animals have bred in 44 of the country’s 47 prefectures, causing all sorts of problems for humans and other animal species.
And to think, it all started with a cute anime series…
In 1963, the American writer Sterling North released his most popular book, Scoundrel: Memoirs of a Better Era.
It told the story of a boy named Sterling who went on an adventure with his raccoon friend Rascal (“Scoundrel”) and became so popular that Disney decided to turn it into a live-action film.
In Japan, the rascal’s adventures inspired a 52-episode anime series called “Rascal Raccoon” that ran for a year in 1977 and made raccoons the most sought-after pets in the country.
There was only one problem – there were no raccoons in Japan, so people started importing them from the US at a rate of about 1,500 raccoons a month.
If the people who demanded raccoons for the home had bothered to read the end of Sterling North’s book or watch the entire anime series, they would have realized that adult raccoons don’t make great pets.
In the book, Sterling realizes that “Scoundrel” is a wild animal meant to live in the wild, so he lets him go, as did many families who adopted raccoons as pets.
By the time the authorities realized what was happening and began to prevent people from releasing their raccoons into the wild, it was already too late.
The resourceful mammals had already driven out other wild species, destroyed crops as well as traditional wooden temples and houses, and little could be done to stop them.
There were tens of thousands of them, and they all multiplied at an uncontrollable rate.
With tens of thousands of raccoons brought in in a matter of months, the Japanese government was unable to keep the situation under control.
Animals in the cities began to rummage through the garbage in search of food, even attacking people who found themselves with garbage in their hands.
Technically, Japan has its own species of raccoon (raccoon dog – tanuki), but it cannot compete with the common raccoon in terms of adaptability, so it is in danger of losing its territory.
They compete for the same resources, but the American raccoon is much better at exploiting them.
In an attempt to keep raccoons from destroying crops, traditional wooden temples and homes, some Japanese prefectures have taken the controversial decision to kill the animals.
This angered animal rights activists and did little to control the raccoon population.
Even though Japan is currently suffering from a raccoon infestation, the anime that started it all is still extremely popular in Japan and people love Rascal as much as ever.
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