A young tanuki wandering through a residential town in Kanagawa-ku is now under protection/Yokohama

Translated from the original article at: http://news.kanaloco.jp/localnews/article/1207020032/

July 3, 2012

The wild tanuki, under custody.

On the afternoon of July 2nd, a young wild tanuki was captured in a residential area of Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama City. Fitting perfectly into a pair of hands, the tanuki was transferred to the Nogeyama Municipal Zoo.

According to the zoo, the animal under custody is of the Nyctereutes procyonoides viverrinus tanuki subspecies, appearing to be 3-4 weeks old. While not having any noticeable wounds, it's quite thin. Consuming food on it's own until reaching full growth, it's set to be returned to the wild in the fall.

According to Kanagawa police, at about 1:45PM on July 2nd, a 37 year old man on his way home from work spotted the tanuki wandering the ni-choume road of Shinkoyasu and captured it. Being given to the police, it was then handed over to the zoo.

The spot it was captured was neighboring a thicket. The zoo stated that 20 incidents occur per year of wild tanukis being captured and delivered. This was said to be the 3rd young tanuki under their care this year.


Original text:
子ダヌキ「ウロウロ」、神奈川区の住宅街で保護/横浜
2012年7月3日

保護された野生の子ダヌキ

横浜市神奈川区の住宅街で２日午後、野生の子ダヌキが捕獲された。両手に収まるほどの大きさで、市立野毛山動物園に引き渡された。

同園によると、保護されたのは、生後３～４週間とみられるホンドタヌキ。目立ったけがはないが、かなり痩せており、自分で餌がとれるまで成長するのを待ち、秋には自然に戻す。

神奈川署によると、同日午後１時45分ごろ、同区新子安２丁目の路上で歩き回っているタヌキを、帰宅途中の男性（37）が捕獲。同署を通じて同園に引き渡した。

捕獲現場の付近には雑木林がある。同園には年間約20件、保護された野生のタヌキが届けられている。子どものタヌキが保護されたのは今年に入り３件目という。