The fate of nine orphaned raccoon kits from an animal rehab centre in Metchosin, is the subject of a study which hopes to reveal how well the animals are integrating back into their natural environment.

The BC SPCA鈥檚 Wild ARC has collaborated with a Royal Roads University (RRU) master鈥檚 student for the post-release monitoring study.

Overseen by wildlife veterinarian Dr. Adam Hering, the study began in September, with nine of Wild ARC鈥檚 juvenile raccoons fitted with GPS/radio collars and released in areas around Greater Victoria.

The collared raccoons are being remotely monitored by GPS satellites and will be tracked for six months to see their movement patterns, survival rates, and causes of mortality, according to a BC SPCA news release.

The collars will fall off automatically after six months, so they do not constrain the growing raccoons.

So far, the study reports one raccoon as suspected of having removed its collar, another killed by a predator and a third caught by a pest control company and re-released.

According to Wallis Moore Reid, senior wildlife rehabilitator with Wild ARC, the animal rehab centre can care for up to 80 orphaned raccoon kits in a year.

After rehabilitation at the centre, juvenile raccoons are typically released in the fall, similar to when young raccoons leave their mothers in the wild.

But the fate of the released raccoons is usually unknown.

鈥淥nly three previous studies on rehabilitation-reared and released raccoons have been done in North America over the last three decades,鈥� said Moore Reid. 

鈥淭his important research will offer us preliminary data on how Wild ARC鈥檚 orphaned raccoons are integrating back into their natural environment and may inform our rehabilitation care practices and protocols to increase the survival potential of released juvenile raccoons in the future.鈥�

The BC SPCA has warned the public to not approach the collared raccoons, as they are wild animals.

鈥淩accoons are generally not aggressive unless they feel threatened, attacked or trapped,鈥� says the BC SPCA news release.

The research is being conducted under a provincial government permit and was approved by the Vancouver Island University Animal Care Committee (on behalf of Royal Roads University) and the BC SPCA鈥檚 Animal Welfare Research Subcommittee.

Members of the public are encouraged to call the BC SPCA Animal Helpline at 1-855-622-7722 or email Wild ARC at info@wildarc.com to report a sighting of a collared raccoon if they appear distressed, injured or sick.