Behavioral plasticity of raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides) provides new insights for urban wildlife management in metropolis Shanghai, China

Abstract

As urbanization exposes wildlife to new challenging conditions and environmental pressures, species that exhibit a high degree of behavioral plasticity are considered potentially capable of colonizing and adapting to urban environments. However, differences in the behavior of populations that inhabit urban and suburban landscapes pose unprecedented challenges to traditional methods in wildlife management which often fail to consider a species’ needs or mitigate human–wildlife conflict due to changes in species behavior in response to intensive human interference. Here, we investigate differences in the home range, diel activity, movement, and diet of raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides) between residential districts and forest park habitats in Shanghai, China. Using GPS tracking data from 22 individuals, we find that the home ranges of raccoon dogs in residential districts (10.4 ± 8.8 ha) was 91.26% smaller than those in forest parks (119.6 ± 135.4 ha). We also find that raccoon dogs in residential districts exhibited significantly lower nocturnal movement speeds (134.55 ± 50.68 m h−1) compared to their forest park counterparts (263.22 ± 84.972 m h−1). An analysis of 528 fecal samples showed a significantly higher intake of ingredients from human food in residential districts (χ2 = 4.691, P = 0.026), which indicates that urban raccoon dog foraging strategies differ from the forest park population due to the presence of discarded human food, cat food, and wet garbage in residential districts. Based on our findings, we propose a community-based wildlife management strategy and suggest modifying the current design of residential districts. Our results underscore the importance of mammal behavior studies in urban biodiversity management and provide a scientific basis for mitigating human–wildlife conflicts in urban environments in and beyond our study area.