Tracking the Origin of Raccoon (Procyon lotor) Translocations in Northeastern North America Using Population Genetics

Abstract Human activities have altered natural dispersal patterns of many wildlife species through intentional and accidental translocations. We used population genetics to detect recent long-distance translocations of Procyon lotor (Raccoon) in northeastern North America. Three Raccoons were collected on 2 islands off the US New England coast, with suspected origins in southeastern Canada. We used RADcapture to genotype 1000 microhaplotypes and assign the animals to source locations through comparison to 563 genotypes from the northeastern US and southeastern Canada. The 3 Raccoons assigned to populations associated with the US–Canada border region. Our results add to the sparse scientific literature on Raccoon translocations, highlighting the utility of genetics for detecting long-distance movements of wildlife and implications for disease management.

• Publication year

  2025

• Venue

  Northeastern Naturalist

• Publication date

  2025-01-08

• Fields of study

  Not labeled

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1656/045.031.0412
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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