Raccoon breeding populations now present in Lombardia

'The masked invader strikes again: the conquest of Italy by the Northern raccoon'

Hystrix: The Italian Journal of Mammalogy - vol. 26 - January 2015

The Northern raccoon Procyon lotor is a species native to North and Central America, but alien populations have established in Europe, several Caribbean islands, and Japan, being introduced for fur farming, hunting, or as pets/attraction in animal parks. In the introduced range, raccoons may impact on breeding birds and amphibians, exert crop damages and transmit pathologies to wild species and humans. The species has been introduced also in Italy, where the only known reproductive population is observed since 2004 in Lombardy, along the Adda river.

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Slowly but surely, the North American raccoon is literally spreading across the planet. First introduced into Germany, Japan, and Cacucus during the last century, they are quick to adapt and reproduce. Their habitat is typically northern moderate, but they're native to tropical Mexico and Central America as well. Alaska and northern Canada are too harsh. However, their potential to inhabit territories far and wide exists. In Japan, they have done much damage to ancient temples by sheltering up within the the area around the rafters (urinating for example). The love affair with the raccoon in Japan seems to have ended, as the government is trying to eradicate them. In Europe, they started out in Germany, and have spread heavily into Denmark and Switzerland, and also into France and central Europe, and now into Lombardy.

In Europe, raccoons don't seem to be any more of a nuisance than in North America. Since they have working hands, including opposable thumbs, they can open garbage cans to get at leftover food. There is insufficient data on the Alpine region of Lombardy (Sondrio for example), so it would seem likely that they are there as well. It is known that there are breeding populations in south-central Lombardy. The following link actually has some expanded information, including two good maps; one of Italy and Switzerand, and one of Lombardy: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Current-distribution-of-Northern-raccoon-in-Lombardy-red-triangles-with-respect-to_fig2_278962437 The Italian/Swiss map clearly shows the considerable extent to which raccoons have inhabited that country, and in turn the potential for the same thing to happen in Italy. An entirely separate breeding population of Raccoons has even taken root in Belarus.

I'm not suggesting that this is something good. Invasive species can cause lots of problems. We have seen the damage done by giant rodents from South America--called nutria--have done in states like Louisiana. Another example are the farm factory pigs which sometimes escape into the wild and breed with with wild boars (an invasive species) of which they descended from before genetic modification. The offspring quickly regain their old DNA and become hairy with tusks again, while becoming even bigger. Some can be up to seven or eight hundred pounds! One "monster pig" was shot in Alabama in 2007; 9 feet 4 inches, and 1,051 pounds. Then of course there are the killer bees from the African bees who escaped in the 1950s and cross-breeding with local Brazilian honey bees, and they migrated to the United States years ago.

So what does invasion of raccoons mean to Lombardy? It would seem highly likely that they will increase rapidly because of the ideal climate and environment there.

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