---
title: "What the sources say about the European Badger | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "57 claims from the European Badger profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
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---

# What the sources say about the European Badger (*Meles meles*)

> 57 claims from the European Badger profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [European Badger](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/european-badger/)

## Badger (Meles meles). Woodland Trust.

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/animals/mammals/badger/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| the UK's biggest land predator | This makes them the biggest land predator in the UK. |
| typically weighing 10 to 12 kg with a body length of about 90 cm | they typically weigh 10–12kg, with a body length of about 90cm. |
| Its sharp claws are ideal for digging setts | sharp claws that are ideal for digging |
| excavated in soft earth, sometimes at the base of a tree | Setts are excavated in soft earth, sometimes at the base of trees. |
| dragging old bedding of hay, bracken and grass out under its chin, which prevents a build-up of fleas and lice | Badgers clean out their sleeping areas, dragging out old hay, bracken, grass and anything they’ve used as bedding by carrying it under their chin. This prevents a build-up of fleas and lice. |
| Roughly 80 percent of a badger's diet is earthworms, and it can eat hundreds of them in a single night. | Around 80% of a badger’s diet is made up of earthworms – they can eat hundreds of them in a single night |
| When worms are scarce it turns to voles and rabbits, and it is the main predator of hedgehogs in the UK. | When earthworms are scarce, badgers will eat small mammals like voles and rabbits. They are also the main predator of hedgehogs in the UK. |
| elderberries | Fruit features in the badger's diet too, including pears, apples, plums and elderberries. |
| though around four to seven is typical in the UK | Badgers live in social groups, typically made up of around four to seven individuals. (note: WT is a UK page; its 'typically' is kept as 'typical') |
| Mating can happen in any month | Mating occurs year-round, predominantly between February and May. |
| UK cubs are not born until January or February regardless of when mating happened | This means cubs will not be born until January or February, regardless of when mating took place. |
| Historical persecution means badgers are now fully protected by law in the UK, which has helped the population roughly double since the 1980s. | Historical persecution means badgers are now fully protected by law. This has helped the UK population to grow, roughly doubling since the 1980s. |
| Sharp claws ideal for digging setts, underground homes the badger cleans by dragging old bedding out under its chin. | sharp claws that are ideal for digging ... Badgers clean out their sleeping areas, dragging out old hay, bracken, grass and anything they’ve used as bedding by carrying it under their chin. ... The species lives in a network of underground burrows and tunnels know as a sett. (note: stats.superpower; combines two quotes from the same page) |
| smaller outlying setts | Each badger territory will include a main sett and several smaller outlying setts. |
| after mating comes delayed implantation | After mating, a process known as delayed implantation occurs. |
| Nocturnal digger with a striped face, sharp claws and a network of underground tunnels. | The badger's distinctive striped face is unmistakable. ... sharp claws that are ideal for digging ... The species lives in a network of underground burrows and tunnels know as a sett. ... Badgers are strictly nocturnal (note: tagline) |
| weightKg: 11 | they typically weigh 10–12kg (note: midpoint of the typical range; the whole range is Medium class) |

## Meles meles (European badger). AnAge: The Animal Ageing and Longevity Database, Build 15.

https://genomics.senescence.info/species/entry.php?species=Meles_meles

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| In captivity, one lived 18.6 years. | One captive specimen lived 18.6 years |

## Meles meles (Eurasian badger). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.

https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Meles_meles/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| from Ireland and Spain to Russia, China and Japan | present from as far west as Ireland and Spain to the eastern edges of Russia, China, and Japan. |
| females weigh 6.6 to 13.9 kg and males 9.1 to 16.7 kg | Female mass ranges from 6.6 to 13.9 kg, and male mass ranges from 9.1 to 16.7 kg. |
| communal burrows | Eurasian badgers construct large, communal burrow systems called setts. |
| The oldest known wild badger reached 14, though few exceed 6. | The oldest known wild Eurasian badger lived to be 14 years old, however few exceed 6 years of age in the wild. (note: ADW 2011; AnAge Build 15 (2023) gives no wild figure. AnAge's captive record (18.6, with 19.5 anecdotal) replaces ADW's 'up to 19'.) |
| It also eats beetles, caterpillars and wasp nests, mice and rats, and carrion, occasionally taking birds and frogs | moles, mice, rats and hedgehogs ... beetles, leatherjackets, caterpillars, and wasps. They target wasps, in particular, by eating their nests ... Eurasian badgers also eat carrion and occasionally eat birds, frogs, fish |
| fruit such as pears, plums, blackberries | more than 30 different kinds of fruit, including pears, plums, raspberries, cherries, strawberries, acorns, beechmast, and blackberries |
| acorns, cereals and, occasionally, fungi | acorns, beechmast, and blackberries. Some cereals that they consume include maize, oats, wheat, and occasionally barley. Badgers also eat tubers and occasionally fungi. |
| Social groups can hold anywhere from 2 to 23 badgers | Social groups may have between 2 and 23 individuals. |
| Usually a single dominant female breeds, and she has been known to kill cubs born to other females in the group. | Usually, a single dominant female reproduces, and dominant sows are known to kill the cubs of intragroup sows. |
| governed partly by day length and temperature | Implantation of the egg is partially governed by abiotic conditions such as photoperiod and temperature. |
| A pregnant female badger can conceive again, an ability called superfetation. | Delayed implantation in female Eurasian badgers is coupled with superfetation, or the ability to conceive while pregnant. |
| As a result, litters with more than one father are not uncommon. | As a result, mixed-paternity litters are not uncommon. |
| use them to mark territorial boundaries | Eurasian badgers are territorial and demarcate territorial boundaries at latrine sights with sub-caudal gland secretions. |
| Earthworms, insects, small mammals, hedgehogs, fruit, and roots | Earthworms are one Eurasian badgers' primary food sources ... In addition to earthworms, Eurasian badgers also prey on rabbits, voles, shrews, moles, mice, rats and hedgehogs. They also eat a wide variety of large insects ... roots and tubers (note: stats.diet) |
| Deciduous, conifer or mixed woodland beside open fields, plus hedges, farmland and grassland, from Ireland and Spain to Japan | as far west as Ireland and Spain to the eastern edges of Russia, China, and Japan ... Ideal habitat includes deciduous, conifer, or mixed woodlands adjacent to open fields. In addition, they may occupy hedges, scrub, and riverine habitats as well as agricultural land, grassland, steppes, and semi-deserts. (note: stats.habitat; the old line said 'across Britain and Europe', narrower than a range that reaches Japan) |
| A typical litter is about three cubs, though litters of one to six happen. | litters range from 1 to 6 cubs, with an average of 3 |
| Cubs emerge from the sett around 8 to 10 weeks after birth, are weaned by roughly 2.5 months, and reach sexual maturity at about a year old. | Cubs emerge from their dens around 8 to 10 weeks after birth ... On average, cubs are weaned by 2.5 months, and male and female Eurasian badgers reach sexual maturity by about one year after birth. |
| A territory can cover as little as 2,500 square metres, a quarter of a hectare, or as much as a few square kilometres, and home ranges tend to be larger when food is scarce. | Eurasian badger territories may cover as little as 2500 m^2 or may be as large as a few square kilometers. Territory size depends on food quality and abundance as well as the amount of area suitable for excavating setts. When food availability is low, home ranges tend to be larger. (note: 2500 m^2 = 0.25 hectare) |
| while younger badgers tend to live in | Younger individuals tend to reside in peripheral setts. |
| The main sett generally holds many of a group's adults | The main sett generally contains many adults and is centrally located in the group's territory. |
| It depends on food quality and abundance, and on how much ground is suitable for digging setts. | Territory size depends on food quality and abundance as well as the amount of area suitable for excavating setts. |
| dangerLevel: Medium | badgers are notoriously aggressive (note: Medium, 'Can injure, but rarely seriously': a 10 to 12 kg aggressive digger with claws; no source reports serious injury to people) |
| tags: omnivore | The teeth of Eurasian badgers are well suited for an omnivorous diet. |

## Abramov (2025). Meles meles. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2025: e.T29673A215859004.

https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2025-1.rlts.t29673a215859004.en

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Least Concern | IUCN Red List category: Least Concern (LC). |

## Roper et al. (1993). Territorial Marking With Faeces in Badgers (Meles Meles): a Comparison of Boundary and Hinterland Latrine Use. Behaviour.

https://doi.org/10.1163/156853993x00074

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| boundary latrines were larger and more consistently used than those nearer the middle, differences that could be explained by visits from more than one social group | Boundary latrines were larger and more consistently used than hinterland latrines, but these differences could be accounted for by the fact that boundary latrines are visited by the members of more than one social group. (note: 'In one study' keeps Roper's scope; hedge kept as 'could be explained by') |
| Males visited boundary latrines considerably more often than females, which the authors suggest works at least partly as mate-guarding, deterring neighbouring males from entering the territory to mate. | Males visited boundary latrines considerably more often than did females ... suggest that these function at least partly as a form of mate-guarding, to deter neighbouring males from entering a territory for mating purposes. |
| Badgers defecate, urinate and scent mark at latrines | Badgers (Meles meles) defecate, urinate and scent mark at latrines |

## Kowalczyk, Jȩdrzejewska & Zalewski (2003). Annual and circadian activity patterns of badgers (Meles meles) in Białowieża Primeval Forest (eastern Poland) compared with other Palaearctic populations. Journal of Biogeography.

https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2699.2003.00804.x

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| radio-collared badgers were nocturnal with one long bout of activity, emerging on average at 19:00 and returning at 03:42, for about 8.2 hours a night | Thirteen badgers were radio‐collared in 1997–2001 ... Badgers were nocturnal with one long bout of activity ... On average, badgers emerged from setts at 19:00 hours and returned to them at 03:42 hours ... Duration of daily activity was, on average, 8.2 h day −1 |
| They built fat reserves in autumn, nearly doubling their spring body mass | In autumn, they built fat reserves and their body mass nearly doubled compared with the spring values. |
| stayed inactive for an average of 96 days each winter | In winter, badgers stayed inactive for an average of 96 days per year. |
| active in one long bout each night, about 8.2 hours on average | Badgers were nocturnal with one long bout of activity ... Duration of daily activity was, on average, 8.2 h day −1 (note: vibe.reason) |

## Gallagher & Clifton-Hadley (2000). Tuberculosis in badgers; a review of the disease and its significance for other animals. Research in Veterinary Science.

https://doi.org/10.1053/rvsc.2000.0422

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| A 2000 review concluded that badgers are well adapted as the primary host of bovine tuberculosis in parts of Britain and much of Ireland. | It is concluded that badgers are well adapted as the primary host of bovine tuberculosis in parts of Britain and much of Ireland. (note: 2000 is the review's publication year (reference year); dated so a 2000 conclusion does not read as a current finding) |

## Downs et al. (2019). Assessing effects from four years of industry-led badger culling in England on the incidence of bovine tuberculosis in cattle, 2013–2017. Scientific Reports.

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-49957-6

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| England introduced licensed badger culling in 2013 to control TB in cattle | Industry-led badger culling as a policy to control bovine tuberculosis (TB) in cattle was introduced by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs in England in 2013. |
| a study of the first cull zones found its effect varied between areas | Industry-led culling was associated with reductions in cattle TB incidence rates after four years but there were variations in effects between areas. |
| Cattle TB incidence was about two-thirds lower in Gloucestershire and about a third lower in Somerset | Central zone incidence rates in Gloucestershire (Incidence rate ratio (IRR) 0.34 (95% CI 0.29 to 0.39, p < 0.001) and Somerset (IRR 0.63 (95% CI 0.58 to 0.69, p < 0.001) were lower and no different in Dorset (IRR 1.10, 95% CI 0.96 to 1.27, p = 0.168) than comparison central zone rates. (note: IRR 0.34 = 66% lower (about two-thirds), 0.63 = 37% lower (about a third)) |
| The effect has varied between areas. | there were variations in effects between areas |
| England's first three licensed cull zones | Licences for culling have been issued for two areas (in Gloucestershire and Somerset) from 2013, one area (in Dorset) from 2015, seven areas from 2016 |
| after four years of culling, but no different in Dorset after two | The follow-up period in this analysis was four years from autumn 2013 to autumn 2017 in Gloucestershire and Somerset and two years from autumn 2015 to autumn 2017 in Dorset (note: 'no different' is the same IRR quote as the claim before it (Dorset IRR 1.10, p = 0.168)) |
| with matched comparison areas | Farming industry-selected licensed culling areas were matched to comparison areas. |