Pygmy raccoons were spotted making paper balls

On the Mexican island of Cozumel, researchers repeatedly observed two young female dwarf raccoons rolling wet paper into tight balls, then hitting them with their paws, chasing after them and sharing them. The animals did not attempt to eat the paper, so the authors interpret the behaviour as play.

The observation is described in the peer-reviewed journal *Wild*. The researchers describe it as preliminary evidence of the creative use of man-made materials, but do not claim that such behaviour is characteristic of the entire species.

Details

A team led by Nessie O’Neil studied the impact of tourism on pygmy raccoons ( Procyon pygmaeus ) — a critically endangered species found only on Cozumel. At a site near a beach club, an adult female first wet some paper rubbish and left it there. One of her young daughters picked up the paper, wet it again with water, rolled it in the sand and shaped it into a ball.

A second young female watched her sister’s actions and tried to copy them, but was unable to finish the ball. The first individual then helped her. Later, the researchers observed the raccoons repeating the process of making and playing with paper balls during their regular monitoring of the site.

For comparison, the scientists checked a similar site about 30 kilometres away. There, the young raccoons also had access to paper waste and fresh water, but no similar behaviour was observed. This suggests that the habit originated within that specific group, but does not in itself prove social transmission of the skill.

Why this is important

The authors consider the observation to be possibly the first documented example of raccoons deliberately transforming an object and using the resulting item for purposes other than foraging. It demonstrates that wild animals are capable of interacting creatively with man-made materials.

There are significant limitations: the observation involved only two related young females in a single area, and it was not a specifically planned experiment. The study does not allow us to determine how widespread the behaviour is, whether it persists over time, or whether it was indeed transmitted through observation.

Contact with rubbish also carries risks. One of the sisters later died at a rehabilitation centre; the researchers attribute this, in all likelihood, to malnutrition and exposure to toxic substances of human origin, but the observation described does not establish the exact cause of death.

Source

Original publication: Nessie O’Neil et al., ‘Preliminary Evidence of Material Culture in the Critically Endangered Pygmy Raccoon (Procyon pygmaeus)’, *Wild*, 2026. DOI: 10.3390/wild3030033.

Original news source: Phys.org.