Badger

SARAH A. CORBET, SCD

PROF. RICHARD WEST, SCD, F R S , FGS DAVID STREETER, MBE, FIBIOL JIM FLEGG, OBE, FIHORT PROF. JONATHAN SILVERTOWN

The aim of this series is to interest the general reader in the wildlife of Britain by recapturing the enquiring spirit of the old naturalists. The editors believe that the natural pride of the British public in the native flora and fauna, to which must be added concern for their conservation, is best fostered by maintaining a high standard of accuracy combined with clarity of exposition in presenting the results of modern scientific research.

ToLarissa, Vanja, Conrad and Laurence

Cover Page

Title Page

Editors

Editors’ Preface

Author’s Foreword and Acknowledgements

Introduction: Badgers in Britain

CHAPTER 1 Classification, Evolutionary Origin, Geographical Distribution and Conservation Status

CHAPTER 2 Basic Biology

CHAPTER 3 Badger Setts

CHAPTER 4 Diet and Foraging Behaviour

CHAPTER 5 Reproduction and Development

CHAPTER 6 Communication

CHAPTER 7 Social Organisation and Use of Space

CHAPTER 8 The Origins of Social Territoriality in Badgers

CHAPTER 9 Badgers and People

CHAPTER 10 Badgers and Bovine Tuberculosis

Appendix: Surveying for Badgers

References

Index

Permissions and Credits

The New Naturalist Library

Copyright

About the Publisher

Eurasian badgers Meles meles. (H. Clark)

BADGER IS A NEW DEPARTURE for the New Naturalist Library: a volume on a single species in the main series. As Professor Roper also points out, it is the replacement for the very first volume in the original monograph series–Ernest Neal’s The Badger. We aim to produce further volumes on single species, but only where they are the sole representative of their group in the UK, or where there is a considerable scientific interest and information available for the species.

The badger Meles meles is a perfect example of a species that qualifies on both counts, so is the ideal subject to start with in this new departure for the main series. As the largest naturally occurring carnivore currently found in the UK, it is perhaps surprising that it is not seen more often in the British countryside, but its cryptic lifestyle means that it often goes unnoticed. It is also one of the most social of UK mammals, a lifestyle that makes it attractive to nature lovers. This combination of scarcity and popularity means that members of the speciality Badger Groups are the most likely people to see these fabulous animals and probably accounts for such groups being the most numerous single species groups in the country. As a social animal, the badger has also been intensively researched for many years. Recently, its implication in the transmission of bovine tuberculosis has increased interest in and scientific study on this species and has resulted in the badger becoming the centre of a controversy surrounding the control of the British and Irish populations.

There is thus no better moment than now for an in-depth description of the species’ lifestyle to be published by the UK’s leading badger scientist, someone who has shared the badger’s position at the centre of the controversy. As a considered view of the facts behind this fascinating animal’s life, this book is a timely contribution to the history of its study and a worthy replacement for Ernest Neal’s original volume in the series.

MOST BADGER LOVERS WOULD agree that the first ‘proper’ badger book was the New Naturalist Monograph written by Ernest Neal and published by Collins in 1948. It is a privilege to be allowed to follow in Ernest’s footsteps, for several reasons. First, his was the first single-species volume in the original New Naturalist series, just as this is the first single-species volume in the new series. Second, Ernest’s knowledge and love of badgers were unrivalled. Third, and by no means least, he was one of the kindest and most modest people one could ever hope to meet–a real authority but one who wore his erudition lightly and was always willing to share it. I have thought about him often during the writing of this book.

Ernest wrote three books about badgers, the most recent of which, co-authored with Chris Cheeseman, was published in 1996. Why, then, do we need another? The main reason is that during the last 15 years an enormous amount of new research on badgers has been published that not only adds, quantitatively, to what we know about the species but also materially changes our view of what badgers are like. In some respects, it is almost as though the old badger that we knew and loved has been replaced by a different animal. For example, whereas we had always assumed that badgers live in relatively large social groups, as they do in the UK, we now know that they exist in quite small groups or pairs over much of their geographical range. Similarly, whereas early studies had suggested that badgers were strictly territorial, we now know that movements between social groups are quite common and that, in some populations, territoriality is much less evident. Again, whereas we used to think that badgers fed mainly on earthworms, we now know that their diet is much more catholic and that in some parts of their range they eschew earthworms altogether. And whereas we used to think that breeding outside the social group was rare, we now know that it happens all the time. Even the basic taxonomy of badgers is being questioned.