Human disturbance affects latrine‐use patterns of raccoon dogs

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  • Marie Tsunoda
    Carnivore Ecology and Conservation Research Group Division of Ecosciences Institute of Agriculture Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology Saiwaicho 3‐5‐8 Fuchu‐city Tokyo 183‐8509 Japan
  • Yayoi Kaneko
    Carnivore Ecology and Conservation Research Group Division of Ecosciences Institute of Agriculture Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology Saiwaicho 3‐5‐8 Fuchu‐city Tokyo 183‐8509 Japan
  • Takako Sako
    Imperial Household Agency Tokyo 100‐8111 Japan
  • Ririko Koizumi
    Carnivore Ecology and Conservation Research Group Division of Ecosciences Institute of Agriculture Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology Saiwaicho 3‐5‐8 Fuchu‐city Tokyo 183‐8509 Japan
  • Kaori Iwasaki
    Carnivore Ecology and Conservation Research Group Division of Ecosciences Institute of Agriculture Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology Saiwaicho 3‐5‐8 Fuchu‐city Tokyo 183‐8509 Japan
  • Ibuki Mitsuhashi
    Carnivore Ecology and Conservation Research Group Division of Ecosciences Institute of Agriculture Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology Saiwaicho 3‐5‐8 Fuchu‐city Tokyo 183‐8509 Japan
  • Masayuki U. Saito
    Carnivore Ecology and Conservation Research Group Division of Ecosciences Institute of Agriculture Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology Saiwaicho 3‐5‐8 Fuchu‐city Tokyo 183‐8509 Japan
  • Masumi Hisano
    Faculty of Natural Resources Management Lakehead University 955 Oliver Road Thunder Bay ON P7B 5E1 Canada
  • Chris Newman
    Wildlife Conservation Research Unit Department of Zoology University of Oxford The Recanati‐Kaplan Centre Tubney House Tubney Abingdon OX13 5QL UK
  • David W. Macdonald
    Wildlife Conservation Research Unit Department of Zoology University of Oxford The Recanati‐Kaplan Centre Tubney House Tubney Abingdon OX13 5QL UK
  • Christina D. Buesching
    Wildlife Conservation Research Unit Department of Zoology University of Oxford The Recanati‐Kaplan Centre Tubney House Tubney Abingdon OX13 5QL UK

Description

<jats:title>ABSTRACT</jats:title><jats:sec><jats:label/><jats:p>Although urbanization is a leading threat to wildlife conservation, some species have adapted to a synanthropic lifestyle. We used a population of raccoon dogs (<jats:italic>Nyctereutes procyonoides</jats:italic>) in the Akasaka Imperial Grounds in central Tokyo, Japan to investigate how latrine‐using carnivores can maintain their socio‐spatial organization with human disturbance. Between 2012 and 2014, we selected 4–11 latrines per year (from a max. of 18 latrines recorded in the area) using 1 camera per latrine. We focused on latrines that included varying levels of human disturbance. We analyzed the temporal patterns of 3,257 latrine visits, of which 878 included defecation events. Overall, latrine use (i.e., visits with and without defecation events) increased as winter approached, coinciding with dispersal, and showed a seasonal shift from diurnal to nocturnal use patterns as days got shorter. Generalized linear mixed model results confirmed that temporal visiting and defecation patterns were affected by human disturbance and shifted from diurnal to nocturnal, although overall frequency of visits and defecation events did not decrease at disturbed latrines and raccoon dogs continued to use disturbed latrine sites. Raccoon dogs likely perceive human disturbance as predation risk and avoided this by shifting their temporal, but not spatial, activity pattern to minimize disturbance. Minimizing the amount of disturbance around raccoon‐dog latrines at sensitive sites and times of day would allow them to co‐exist with people with the minimal compromise to their latrine‐centered socio‐spatial organization. © 2018 The Wildlife Society.</jats:p></jats:sec>

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