Welcome back, to sportsandanimals.com (more sports to follow, I promise). This week’s installment is the Raccoon Dog.

Raccoon Dog Nyctereutes procyonoides

Despite the resemblance, and the nomenclature, this guy is not closely related to the raccoon that we know and love in the US. The Raccoon Dog is in the Canidae (dog) family, and if you had to pick an animal to compare it to, then the fox would probably come closest.

Nyctereutes procyonoides is an omnivore, munching on rodents, amphibians, birds, and all types of fruits and plants. Originally from East Asia (the blue on the range map above), the Raccoon Dog was introduced to Eastern Europe (the red) by the Soviet Union in an effort to increase the quality of the animal’s fur. Unfortunately for this dog, people seem to love the fur (referred to as murmansky fur) and millions are bred in captivity for the fur trade. According to an investigation by three animal rights groups, approximately 1.5 million Raccoon Dogs are raised for fur in China.

Thankfully, the Raccoon Dog is not an endangered species and is fairly common throughout its range. Still, please don’t wear one as a hat.

Thanks as always to wikipedia for the facts and photos, and factzoo.com for one of the photos.