This study investigated habitat availability and its selection and preference by adult, resident raccoon dogs inhabiting the countryside in north-eastern Germany. Habitat composition within home ranges and within the whole study area was almost equal. Although percentage share of farmland and meadow was 16.35% smaller and 12.06% higher within the home ranges, respectively. All nine habitat types (farmland, forest, settlement, water, meadows, maize fields, small woods, reeds and hedges) were used opportunistically by raccoon dogs. No significant, recognisable difference for habitat preferences between seasons was detected. Male and female raccoon dog showed equal habitat preference pattern. A comparison of active and inactive locations in different habitats found no remarkable differences.Habitat composition of individual home ranges was used to classify animals. If the percentage of forest within a home range exceeded 50% the individual was classified as a 'forest type' raccoon dog. If the percentage of forest habitats within a home range was less than 5%, the share of pastureland was mean 81.82%716.92 SD. Consequently the individual was classified as a 'agrarian type' raccoon dog. Neither habitat preference nor habitat selection process differed between the two 'types'. Habitat use and preference is discussed with relation to the ability of the raccoon dog to expand its range towards Western Europe.

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In order to understand dispersal behaviour and its population consequences, we captured 136 raccoon dog Nyctereutes procyonoides pups (i.e. < 1 year old) in northeastern Germany (Mecklenburg‐Western Pomerania). We ear‐tagged all animals and additionally fitted 48 of them with radio‐collars. There were findings of 59 (43.4%) animals and the mean distance from the marking point was 13.5 km ± 20.1 (SD). Dispersal mortality rate was 69.5% among young raccoon dogs. Most animals (55.9%) were recovered < 5 km from the marking place, whereas only 8.5% of the records were > 50 km from the marking point. The distances of the dispersal did not differ between sexes. Most (53.7%) records of ear‐tagged young raccoon dogs were made in August and September, and only 34.1% were recorded during October‐April. Hunting (55%) and traffic (27%) were the major mortality criteria. Most radio‐collared young raccoon dogs dispersed between July and September. The mean natal home‐range size (MCP 100) with and without excursion was 502.6 ha ± 66.4 (SD; N = 9) and 92.1 ha ± 66.4 (N = 17). There were no differences between males and females in the month of dispersal. Raccoon dogs dispersed into all directions with distances varying between 0.5 km and 91.2 km. Radio‐collared, dispersing animals showed a variety of movement patterns and the impression of flexible migration behaviour was confirmed. The fact that males and females showed equal dispersing behaviour is supposed to be one of the factors contributing to the high expansion and the success of the species.

The main objective was to discover extent of interference and/or exploitative competition between the native red fox (Vulpes vulpes) and the introduced, invasive raccoon dog (Nyctereues proconoides) in the intensively used, agricultural landscape of northeast Germany (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania) using very high frequency (VHF) radio telemetry. We recorded location data for 12 foxes and 16 raccoon dogs between July 2004 and December 2006. Species had similar average home range sizes estimated in each season (K95). Home ranges of adjacent raccoon dogs and foxes overlapped from 0.5 to 74.5 % with a mean of 26.4 %. We found a significantly different home range overlap index between the species showing that raccoon dog ranges shifted between seasons to a greater extent than red fox ranges. The raccoon dog differed significantly from the red fox in its use of habitat types, preferring dense vegetation cover and avoiding open areas. The red fox displayed less preference for or avoidance of specific habitat types. Moreover, an almost neutral inter-specific interaction index ranging from −0.12 to 0.12 indicates that raccoon dogs and red foxes ignored each other. It is concluded that widespread and available resources and differences in spatial use patterns prevent competition between red foxes and raccoon dogs in the agricultural landscape of northeast Germany.

Due to hybridisation and breakdown of reproduction barriers the Java warty pig an endangered suid endemic to Java, may be assimilated into the gene pools of the more common Indonesian banded pig and become extinct. Here, we aimed to detect introgressive hybridisation between both suids by microsatellite genotyping warty pigs from two captive populations and from the wild, as well as a banded pig population. While all but one captive individual were genetically pure, we showed, in contrast to a previous survey based on skull measurements, that five wild-born warty pigs in West Java were hybrids. Moreover, we detected four F2 hybrids in the wild warty pig population (q range 0.15-0.99) and one F2 hybrid in the wild banded pig population (q = 0.25), confirming reproductive fertility for F1 hybrids. Our results highlight the potential risk of extinction through hybridization and genetic swamping of the endangered warty pig.