Abstract
The raccoon dog Nyctereutes procyonoides is an Asian canid species which has been introduced to Europe for fur farming. Local escapes and the animal subsequent dispersal have triggered the establishment of self-sustaining populations, particularly in Eastern European countries, but with several populations in Southern Europe as well. Despite being listed amongst the alien species of European concern (EU Regulation 1143/2014), data on raccoon dog distribution in Southern Europe and in particular in Italy are still scanty. In this work, we reviewed all the available data of raccoon dog in Italy. Only five confirmed occurrences are available, suggesting that in this country the species may still be at the beginning of the establishment process.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Mauro Bon, who provided us with information on raccoon dogs in Veneto region. We also thank Davide Righetti, Simon Capt, Tanja Dusker, Ursula Nopp-Mayr, Kaarina Kauhala and Rafal Kowalczyk for their help and for validating some records. Luca Canova and Eva Ladurner provided us with the camera trapping record from Lombardy and Alto Adige, respectively. Paul Tout kindly took the time to revise the English language of our MS. The Associate Editor Geraldine Veron and an anonymous reviewer kindly took the time to improve our manuscript with their comments.
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Author contributions: S.P., L.L. and E.M. planned and supervised the study. S.P., L.L. and A.V. collected occurrences. E.M. and A.V. wrote the very first draft. All authors participated in writing up all drafts.
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Research funding: None.
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Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest regarding this article.
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Research ethics: All procedures performed in this study did not involve animal handling and were in accordance with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments.
References
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