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The European badger (Meles meles), also known as the Eurasian badger, is a badger species in the family Mustelidae native to Europe and West Asia and parts of Central Asia.It is classified as least concern on the IUCN Red List, as it has a wide range and a large, stable population size which is thought to be increasing in some regions.
A Badger Trust statement [56] indicated the 2012/13 badger cull had these specific aims: Determine whether badger cull targets for each pilot area can be met within six weeks with at least 70% of the badger population removed in each cull area; Determine whether shooting "free-running" badgers at night is a humane way of killing badgers.
The genus Meles was erected by French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1762 after Carl Linnaeus had described the Eurasian badger Meles meles in 1758. This animal had a very extensive range over most of temperate Europe and Asia and there has been much discussion as to whether it is a single or three distinct species.
The word "badger", originally applied to the European badger (Meles meles), comes from earlier bageard (16th century), [5] presumably referring to the white mark borne like a badge on its forehead. [6] Similarly, a now archaic synonym was bauson 'badger' (1375), a variant of bausond 'striped, piebald', from Old French bausant, baucent 'id.'. [7]
In Britain, the main predator is the European badger. European hedgehog populations in the United Kingdom are lower in areas with many badgers, [15] and hedgehog rescue societies will not release hedgehogs into known badger territories. [16] Badgers also compete with hedgehogs for food. [17]
Small game furbearers are plentiful in Romania and usually hunted with the aid of dogs and snow tracking. Species include European badger (Meles meles), European hare (Lepus europaeus), European pine marten (Martes martes), beech marten (Martes foina), European polecat (Mustela putorius), ermine (Mustela erminea) and weasel (Mustela nivalis).
Roadkill is estimated to be responsible for 50% of deaths of Florida panthers, and is the largest cause of badger deaths in England. Roadkill is considered to significantly contribute to the population decline of many threatened species, including wolf, koala and eastern quoll . [ 17 ]
The European polecat ... European polecats use abandoned European badger or red fox burrows. [56] ... the majority of polecat deaths caused by humans have been ...