Mammal fauna and breeding record of Japanese badger (Meles anakuma) of suburban green area in Mitaka city, Tokyo

Abstract

Mammal fauna in an isolated green area in a Tokyo suburban residential area was studied. Using a camera-trapping method and interviewing some residents in the area, a total of thirteen mammal species including two temporal visitors were recorded. Among them, breeding of Japanese badgers (Meles anakuma) in a suburban residential area was confirmed for the first time. The RAIs (relative abundance indices) in 2008 and 2018 were compared among medium-sized Carnivores such as badgers, raccoons (Procyon lotor), raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides), masked palm civets (Paguma larvata), and domestic cats (Felis catus). In these ten years, raccoons increased drastically, and badgers, raccoon dogs, and cats also increased. Masked palm civets did not show much change. Despite overlapping diet resources, the increase in raccoons did not influence the size of population of other medium-sized mammals.