Acta Scientiarum Polonorum
Silvarum Colendarum Ratio et Industria Lignaria

The distribution of raccoon dogs in Poland was analysed on the basis of annual bag reports collected from most of about 5000 hunting districts existing in the country. In 1992/93 – before the fox vaccination against rabies, raccoon dogs were rarely hunted, mainly in the north-eastern region of the country. In the hunting season 2002/03 the spread of this species in Poland was found, particularly in western regions of the country. In 2015/16 the raccoon dog was being shot in majority of hunting districts in Poland (60%) but only rarely in the central part of the country and in the Carpathians. The expansion of the species at the turn of the 21st century was most probably driven by a lower mortality rate resulting from a reduced risk of rabies and adapta- tion to new habitat types.