Nick Sweetman @ Canada

Nick Sweetman @ Canada

Location: Canada
Artist: Nick Sweetman
Year: 2023

Photo Credits: Nick Sweetman

“This is a raccoon dog, an East Asian member of the canine family closely related to foxes, which because of its dense fur is bred and slaughtered by the millions every year in China, to be exported all over the world. According to an international team of virologists, genomicists, and evolutionary biologists, there appears to be a connection between the COVID-19 pandemic and wild animals being sold illegally at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, China and many of the genetic samples taken from the market in the early days of the pandemic that tested positive for the virus have been matched to the common raccoon dog. Though it doesn’t constitute proof, this makes it possible the raccoon dogs on sale at this market were carrying and shedding the virus, and experts have said this new data is strong support for the theory that the pandemic began when SARS-CoV-2 jumped from animals to humans (a process called zoonosis), as opposed to leaking from a laboratory experiment. Bats are believed to have been the original carriers of the new coronavirus, spreading it to us through another intermediate host. Because many animals are sold at the market in close proximity to one another, raccoon dogs are just one possibility for where this virus first jumped to humans, but they have been a top suspect.
They can be found from the South East corner of Russia down through Mongolia, Korea and China to Northern Vietnam. It is often confused with its cousin, the Japanese raccoon dog or tanuki. Introduced in Europe for the fur trade, raccoon dogs are now an invasive species in many parts of the continent and it is illegal to import, transport or breed them anywhere in the European Union, which declared it “one of the most successful alien carnivores in Europe.” Unlike other canines, raccoon dogs climb trees and during cold winters go into torpor (similar to hibernation). They are omnivorous, eating insects, fish, birds, small animals, as well as veggies, fruits, and nuts. They can eat toads despite their toxic skin secretions, by producing extra saliva to dilute the toxins.”
Nick Sweetman

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