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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.
In Europe, badgers were traditionally used to predict the length of winter. [59] The badger is the state animal of the U.S. state of Wisconsin, [60] though this is a reference to the state's early miners rather than the animal itself, and Bucky Badger is the mascot of the athletic teams at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
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 American badger is a member of the Mustelidae, a diverse family of carnivorous mammals that also includes weasels, otters, ferrets, and the wolverine. [4] The American badger belongs to the Taxidiinae, one of four subfamilies of mustelid badgers – the other three being the Melinae (four species in two genera, including the European badger), the Helictidinae (five species of ferret ...
Habitats vary widely as well, from the arboreal marten to the fossorial European badger to the marine sea otter. Population sizes are largely unknown, though two species, the sea mink and Japanese otter , were hunted to extinction in 1894 and 1979, respectively, and several other species are endangered .
Martens are largely arboreal, while European badgers dig extensive tunnel networks, called setts. Only one mustelid has been domesticated; the ferret . Tayra are also kept as pets (although they require a Dangerous Wild Animals licence in the UK), or as working animals for hunting or vermin control.
Sable, Martes zibellina NA (western Ural Mountains, European Russia) Caucasian badger, Meles canescens (Crete, Rhodes) Asian badger, Meles leucurus [2] LC (Russia, Kazakhstan) European badger, Meles meles LC; Stoat, Mustela erminea LC; Steppe polecat, Mustela eversmanii LC; European mink, Mustela lutreola CR (eastern Europe, Spain, France)
Badger, Shadow, and Frond, from the children's novel The Animals of Farthing Wood and its components The Fox Cub Bold and Battle for the Park all by Colin Dann. [8] [9] [7] Badger, [4] [10] the title character in Susan Varley's Badger's Parting Gifts, a Mother Goose Award-winning children's story that was showcased on Reading Rainbow in season 18.