Fluffy burrowing raccoon dogs in northern Japan an online hit
January 11, 2021 (Mainichi Japan)
In this capture photo from the Twitter video, raccoon dogs peek out from a pile of fallen leaves. (Photo courtesy of Obihiro Zoo) OBIHIRO, Hokkaido A video of fluffy raccoon dogs poking their heads out from piles of fallen leaves has gained popularity online, earning them the moniker burrowing raccoon dogs. The video posted on the official Twitter page of Obihiro Zoo in this northern Japan city on Nov. 13, 2019 has garnered some 1.9 million views and more than 120,000 likes. Last fall, 28-year-old zookeeper Taishi Nakayama, who is in charge of the raccoon dogs, placed food in piles of fallen leaves he had collected to encourage the animals to explore, as they do in nature. The raccoon dogs were already popular for their stocky appearance, which was described as cute and fluffy, but the video of them playing in fallen leaves proved to be a hit.