Japanese Raccoon Dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides viverrinus) at Zoo Atlanta, USA

Nice - I didn't know there were any of these in the United States.

@Arizona Docent kept here and at the Oklahoma City Zoo, which also has a white individual.

@jayjds2 Same subspecies?

@drill not sure - they were an import from a zoo in Europe, though I do not recall which.

I seriously doubt they are Japanese. I think there is confusion caused by the use of the name Tanuki by the American zoos as an "alternative" to Raccoon Dog.

The Zoo Atlanta ones came "from Italy" according to press articles. Zootierliste has several Italian collections with the standard Raccoon Dogs, which are readily available in Europe as an introduced species - the only Japanese Raccoon Dogs listed are at one German collection currently, and one German and one UK collection formerly.

These are not Japanese Raccoon Dogs, the US population all comes from European imports. I believe that makes these ussuriensis and it's probably impossible to know for sure.

~Thylo

@ThylacineAlive Just seen this comment thread! Apologies if I have written the wrong name, I was going off of zoo signage and memory!

*Correction of the title*
Raccoon Dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides) at Zoo Atlanta, USA