Abstract
Although the raccoon dog Nyctereutes procyonoides has a wide global distribution, little is known about its population in Vietnam. The species is considered rare in Vietnam, and few records have been published since 2004, although it is worth noting that all of these records were wildlife trade observations or anecdotal reports. Here, we report raccoon dogs recorded in the illegal wildlife trade via Facebook monitoring from January to December 2020, rescued animals documented in the Nghe An province caught by a hunter in August 2020, and camera trap records of the species detected in Pu Mat National Park in May and July 2021. Our camera trap recordings provide evidence of a southern range extension for this species in Vietnam and represent the first documented occurrence of raccoon dogs captured in situ by camera traps within the country.
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Data availability
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, [Thong Van Pham], upon reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Nguyen Sy Quoc and Vi Van Dinh and Dang Thanh Tuan who have accompany the researcher to interview the hunter and approach the Pu Mat staff to get data. The illegal wildlife trade online survey was funded by Wild Planet Trust.
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Study conception, MTT, TPV, TVN, MVN, TCAV, and NTN; data analysis and writing, TPV, RG, LNC, TVN, MTTD, and DW; administrative and research support, NTN, LTN, CXT, and TNV.
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Van Pham, T., Trinh, M.T., Gray, R.J. et al. Southern extension of raccoon dog Nyctereutes procyonoides (Mammalia: Carnivora: Canidae) range in Vietnam with comments on its conservation status in the country. Eur J Wildl Res 69, 22 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-023-01653-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-023-01653-7