Why are Raccoons Endangered on Cozumel?

Cozumel is an extremely diverse land. It has a beautiful river scenery, vegetation, beaches, and wildlife that reminds of the earth’s goodness. If you ready to explore the finest of Cozumel, do give it a visit. However, very sadly, the Raccoons of Cozumel are under danger. And it is incumbent upon all tourists to be careful about the wildlife and do nothing that could harm them.

The raccoons of Cozumel are also known as pygmy raccoons and are considered “critically endangered”. These are almost half the size of normal raccoons and have a beautiful reddish tail. One major problem is that there are only approximately 300 of them left on this earth. Usually, fishermen and tourists on Cozumel keep feeding them, and they have lost their sense of fear toward people.

Tourists are unable to recognize that feeding these endangered animals some stale Pringles or tortillas is probably not the best idea. Moreover, people sometimes do not care about the amount of rubbish and waste they might be contributing to. When these raccoons feed themselves off the toxic waste lying in the wild, they end up becoming further endangered.

Left on their own these raccoons mostly prey on crabs. Unfortunately, there is a continual cycle where the waste dumped in oceans is consumed by crabs. These crabs are then consumed by the raccoons. Hence, this food chain and the constant accumulation of toxic waste within the bodies of the crabs and thus in the raccoons make their health worse. Therefore, raccoons are under a major threat due to such malpractices.

So, if you happen to visit Cozumel, please refrain from any practices that can cause damage to the poor raccoons. They are already endangered, and we as humans need to assure completely safe practices that do not affect the environment or the animals negatively.

Stingray Villa