Endangered dwarf raccoons on Cozumel craft paper balls and play soccer, showing social learning
Scientists observed endangered pigmy raccoons on Cozumel Island turning discarded paper into balls and using them for soccer-like play, a behavior learned from a sibling.
While examining tourism's impact on the endemic pigmy raccoon (Procyon pygmaeus) on Cozumel Island, graduate student Nesi O'Neill and colleagues from the University of Miami recorded a novel play behavior. A young raccoon retrieved paper waste from a beach-club trash bin, soaked it, and rolled it on sand with its forepaws to form a ball, then used the ball in a soccer-like game with its sister and mother. Across 64 hours of observation, the animal made 14 attempts, achieving eight successful balls, a 57 % success rate.
After the first raccoon succeeded, the sibling imitated the technique, initially failing until the first raccoon helped by wetting the paper. Researchers did not observe the behavior at another location 30 km away. The study, published in the journal Wild, expands the known range of material culture beyond primates and cetaceans and underscores behavioral diversity as a vital aspect of conserving a species listed by the IUCN as critically endangered with fewer than 200 individuals remaining.
