Tanuki: Human Use

Ten Things I Like About... Podcast

Summary: Raccoon Dogs have a complicated relationship with humans. Join Kiersten as she talks about how humans use raccoon dogs.

For my hearing impaired listeners, a complete transcript of this podcast follows the show notes on Podbean

Show Notes:

Nyctereutes procyonoides, Raccoon Dog. Animal Diversity Web. https://animaldiversity.org

The Origins of “Murmansk” Fur and Its Role in the Fashion Industry,” by Madison Dapcevich, https://www.snopes.com

Keeping Raccoon Dogs as Pets, https://www.rspca.org

Music written and performed by Katherine Camp

Transcript

(Piano music plays)

Kiersten - This is Ten Things I Like About…a ten minute, ten episode podcast about unknown or misunderstood wildlife.

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Welcome to Ten Things I Like About… I’m Kiersten, your host, and this is a podcast about misunderstood or unknown creatures in nature. Some we’ll find right out side our doors and some are continents away but all are fascinating.

This podcast will focus ten, ten minute episodes on different animals and their amazing characteristics. Please join me on this extraordinary journey, you won’t regret it.

The ninth episode of Tanuki isn’t exactly something I like about this animal but it is a reality for this animal. This episode we will discuss how humans use the raccoon dog.

The human relationship with nature, which we think we are removed from but in reality are impacted by and greatly impact, is often complicated. We love it, we hate it, we want to conserve it, we want to exploit it. Humans have struggled long and hard to figure out how we fit into the world in which we live.

Raccoon dogs are on a long list of living creatures that have a complicated relationship with humans. We love them, we hate them, we want to conserve them, we want to exploit them. And boy have we figured out how to exploit them.

As many invasive species around the world, raccoon dogs were introduce to other portion of the planet by humans, for use by humans. This is what happened to the raccoon dogs on Finland and Europe. They were brought there by humans for food and fur. Today raccoon dogs are still used for food and fur.

In North America and portions of Europe we have made great strides to reduce the fur trade and it has been successful, but it still hangs on. I cannot fault humans from the past that used animal fur to survive in frigid weather, but back then the entire animal was often used for survival. One animal was hunted and everything was utilized. Today, for the most part, fur is fashion and I have never understood why humans think that fur looks better on them than on the animal that grew it.

in Japan, China, and Russia, raccoon dogs are raised to supply the fur trade. The fur is often marketed as murmanski, tanuki, Asiatic raccoon or Finn raccoon fur. Murmanski or tanuki is often seen in European countries, where as North American markets see Asiatic raccoon or Finn raccoon fur most often.

I am not entirely opposed to raising animals commercially for human use, but we must remember to give them the respect as living animals that they deserve. I am opposed to raising animals for use in fashion which is not necessary for our survival.

Conditions within these fur farms are deplorable. Raccoon dogs are kept in overpopulated cages, fed only enough food to keep them alive long enough to grow to the desired size before being slaughtered and skinned. Raccoon dog fur is used mostly to trim the hoods of jackets or to make stoles or adorn other items of clothing. Raccoon dog fur is not useful for making coats to withstand freezing temperatures. Humans use this strictly as a fashion statement. Snopes also recently confirmed a research report that some labels claiming the fur trim on their clothing is faux fur is actually tanuki fur, so be aware when buying faux fur.

I found some reference to raccoon dog yarn, but could not get any substantial descriptions of what it is or how it is made. Some rumors say it is shaved from raccoon dogs once a year like sheep and processed into yarn, but I cannot confirm these reports. Regardless, I can’t imagine how many raccoon dogs you’d have to raise to make any profit off of this endeavor. Having large quantities of animals for profit usually leads to lax care. This is often marketed as tanuki yarn.

In Japan and China, tanuki may be on the menu. Several exotic meat markets in these Asian countries sell raccoon dog meat. Selling non-domesticated animals to eat is never a good thing. Most often these animals are hunted to near extinction in their native habitats which can throw the entire ecosystem off, creating even bigger problems not to mention killing a species that has every right to live merely because it exists. The other major problem with this practice is that it spreads disease. Wild animals are susceptible to disease. It is a natural part of life. Disease is one way that nature keeps populations of all living things in balance. When you kill wild animals and bring them into a market place to sell, you can also be sending home whatever diseases that animal is carrying with them. If the animal is not handled and prepared properly it could have disastrous results.

In several countries, there is a raccoon dog hunting season. Now, I have no problems with hunting these animals in countries that they have been introduced to, such as Finland, as long as they are hunted humanely without tortuous methods such as bear traps. Hunting them in their natural ranges is also acceptable as long as populations are managed so that their numbers never plummet to dangerous levels.

Of course, why you are hunting these animals is important to me. In areas where they are injurious, such as an introduced habitat, I completely understand hunting them to remove them from a non-native area. Hunting them for the sheer joy of hunting to kill a living animal and trying to kill as many as possible, that I have issues with and have never understood.

Humans use raccoon dogs for one other thing, pets. Raccoon dogs are apparently popular pets in England, one of their non-native ranges. It is illegal in England to have them as a pet. Raccoon dogs do not make good pets. They are not a domesticated breed of dog so it does not matter how you raise them, they will always be wild animals. They need large areas to roam, a varied diet of items that most humans do not want to provide, in other words not dog food, and we do not know enough about their social structure to know if they can live without the company another raccoon dog. Keeping a wild animal in a human household is not a good idea for the human or the animal in question. Please do not buy a raccoon dog for a pet, no matter what anyone tells you. Keep in mind that most countries outside of their natural range, including the countries they were introduced to years ago, have outlawed buying, selling, or owning raccoon dogs as pets or commercial animals. This is to prevent them from escaping and setting up residence in that country, because these animals are extremely adaptable as we have learned from the rest of this series.

This has been a tough episode for me. It is hard for me to talk about the exploration of any wild animal, but I thought it was important information. This is the end of the ninth episode of the tanuki.

If you're enjoying this podcast please recommend me to friends and family and take a moment to give me a rating on whatever platform your listening. It will help me reach more listeners and give the animals I talk about an even better chance at change.

Join me next week for the penultimate episode about Tanuki.

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This has been an episode of Ten Things I like About with Kiersten and Company. Original music written and performed by Katherine Camp, piano extraordinaire.