Tale of a raccoon dog reminds us how wildlife, too, is affected by lockdowns
A raccoon dog named Jixiang is now living in Shanghai Zoo, and she has a family in Songjiang District to thank for her survival.
Jixiang was found in a resident鈥檚 yard in early April, buried under a pile of fallen leaves. It was still quite cold, and there was no trace of parents about. Neighbor Hu Nan thought the small animal was a puppy.
鈥淚t was my neighbor鈥檚 yard, and because the city was in lockdown, we couldn鈥檛 go out to try to find the parents,鈥 said Hu. 鈥淎nd no wildlife experts or volunteers could enter the compound to help us.鈥
She added: 鈥淎s my mom has experience in taking care of dying strays, the neighbor sent her to our home.鈥
The 鈥減uppy鈥 was cold and hardly breathing. Hu鈥檚 mother managed to warm her up with electric blankets and comforters. The family named her Jixiang, which means 鈥渁uspicious.鈥
鈥淢y mom used an eye dropper to feed her milk, once every two hours,鈥 Hu said. 鈥淓verything was going well until, several days later, the puppy choked and started panting. We thought she was a goner.鈥
Hu said her mother gave the animal artificial respiration and heart massage, and kept talking to Jixiang.
To their surprise and delight, the animal survived. One month on, she was the size of a human palm, and the more she grew up, the less she looked like a dog.
鈥淲e began to suspect that Jixiang was not a puppy after all, so we asked families and friends to find us a wildlife expert,鈥 Hu said.
Volunteer and staff with the Shan Shui Conservation Center finally identified Jixiang as a raccoon dog under the guidance of Shanghai Forestry Station. Despite its name, the animal indigenous in China is neither raccoon nor dog. Its closest relative is the fox.
鈥淩accoon dogs are widely distributed in Shanghai, especially in the outlying suburbs of Songjiang, Minhang and Qingpu districts,鈥 said Feng Yidi, a researcher at Shan Shui. 鈥淭hey were residing in fields and villages on the city fringes long before urbanization came to the suburbs.鈥
After lockdown was lifted earlier this month, Jixiang was sent to Shanghai Zoo. She will be displayed in the local species section of the zoo while undergoing 鈥渢raining鈥 to return to the wild.
Zoo officials said the animal might be more prone to disease because she wasn鈥檛 suckled by her mother. And lacking her mother, she didn鈥檛 learn the basic skills of how to survive in nature.
鈥淚t was hard to say goodbye to Jixiang, but we know that it鈥檚 best for her to be taken care of by professionals and eventually be returned to her own population,鈥 Hu said. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 deprive her of her freedom.鈥
It鈥檚 still a mystery how Jixiang ended up where she was found or where her mother went. Lockdowns have changed the human-wildlife equation in many areas. With people largely absent, wild animals have had freer rein.
Feng said that she found that raccoon dogs living in her compound in Qingpu were visibly bolder during the lockdown.
鈥淩accoon dogs are generally timid, and they usually avoid people,鈥 she said. 鈥淏efore the lockdown, we didn鈥檛 even know that there were raccoon dogs in our compound. But during the lockdown, a neighbor of mine saw one of them strolling past in daylight.鈥
Feng said she heard of one case where a raccoon dog family took up residence in someone鈥檚 backyard during the lockdown.
鈥淚t seemed there were around five raccoon dogs there, and the owner of the backyard wasn鈥檛 bothered at all,鈥 she said. 鈥淭he human family and the raccoon dog family were coexisting peacefully.鈥
With lockdowns ending, that peace may be disrupted.
鈥淩oadkill is always the major city threat to such wildlife,鈥 Feng said. 鈥淐onstructions such as steep, stone river embankments also pose risks. If a cub falls into the river, it鈥檚 difficult for it to climb up such a bank.鈥
Meanwhile, human intervention 鈥 whether benevolent or malevolent 鈥 upsets the natural order of things. Many people leave food out for stray cats, and that can attract large numbers of raccoon dogs and caused a population explosion.
Starting this week, Feng said, a survey of the raccoon dog population in the city will be undertaken by her center, under the auspices of Fudan University and the forestry station. The survey will be conducted with the help of 80 to 100 volunteers, who will try to find traces of raccoon dogs in local compounds and other locations, for two weekends.
鈥淲e hope that the survey will help us get a more detailed idea about the distribution of raccoon dogs so that we can further our public education about how to get along with them,鈥 Feng said.
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