Masked predators: raccoons are a threat to native amphibians and reptiles

Frankfurt parasitologist and infection biologist Prof. Dr. Sven Klimpel, together with researchers from the Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Center and Goethe University Frankfurt, has shown in a recent scientific study as part of the joint project ZOWIAC (Zoonotic and Wildlife Ecological Impacts of Invasive Carnivores) that raccoons in Germany use amphibians and reptiles as a food source. The invasive carnivores therefore pose a threat to native fauna. The researchers analyzed the faeces, stomach contents and parasite fauna of a total of 108 raccoons from nature reserves in Hesse, Saxony-Anhalt and Brandenburg. They conclude that the invasive species is affecting native ecosystems and also increasingly endangering protected species.