Magazine
01 Oct 2018
by Kim Birnie-Gauvin

Raccoons with access to food waste are chubbier and sweeter

It’s no secret that the planet is now ‘human’. We – humans – have altered the earth to meet the demands of a booming population, creating so-called “urban landscapes”. But what does that mean for the wildlife that surrounds us? Evidence suggests that wildlife exposed to anthropogenic stressors are different from their non-exposed counterparts in various ways including stress levels, predator-prey interactions, and food intake.

Raccoons with access to food waste are chubbier and sweeter

Schulte-Hostedde, A. I., Mazal, Z., Jardine,C. M., Gagnon, J. (2017). Enhanced access to anthropogenic food waste is related to hyperglycemia in raccoons (Procyon lotor).

Conservation Physiology, 6(1), coy026. https://academic.oup.com/conphys/article/6/1/coy026/5037284

 

It’s no secret that the planet is now ‘human’. We – humans – have altered the earth to meet the demands of a booming population, creating so-called “urban landscapes”. But what does that mean for the wildlife that surrounds us? Evidence suggests that wildlife exposed to anthropogenic stressors are different from their non-exposed counterparts in various ways including stress levels, predator-prey interactions, and food intake. This may be particularly true for species which interact closely with humans, such as the raccoon (Procyon lotor). Raccoons are notorious for their ability to break into garbage bins and feed on wastes. While they are an omnivorous species, human food waste is unlikely to be the most appropriate food for them. In fact, there is evidence that raccoon populations with access to anthropogenic food waste have more dental caries and poorer dental health. A recent study dug further in, and evaluated what access to food waste meant at a more physiological level. Researchers compared body mass, adiposity and glucose metabolism across three raccoon populations with varying levels of food waste access (high, moderate and low access – from city to remote farmland). Perhaps not surprisingly, raccoons with the greatest access to food waste were heavier than those with moderate and low access. Furthermore, glycated serum protein (an indicator for blood glucose) was also found in individuals of the high access population, indicating hyperglycemia. These findings indicate that there are physiological consequences to feeding on anthropogenic food waste for wildlife, though it remains to be seen whether these have long-term evolutionary consequences. What we do know however is that hyperglycemia has been linked to reduced reproduction and survival, but raccoons in cities tend to have larger litters, so perhaps we can expect more frequent visits from younger individuals?

Kim Birnie-Gauvin, National Institute of Aquatic Resources, Technical University of Denmark

 

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