Studies On The Behavioral Ecology Of Badger, Meles Meles

Badger(Meles meles) belongs to Carnivores, Mustelidae, Melinae, and as the only species of Meles. Badger used to live in the countryside of Shanghai, but population size of badgers have declined constantly since recent decades. As the largest wild mammals in Shanghai, it has been listed as the important protection animal.In view of the badger survival status and its important position in the ecosystem, protect the biodiversity of Shanghai, the project Ecological restoration of badger in Shanghai was implemented in2007in order to increase the population size of the badger in Shanghai by investigating the survival and distribution status of badger and restoring badger’s habitat scientifically.The survey of the status showed that there were wild badgers living in Fengxian district where the ecological environment was in fair condition. An experimental habitat was established in Shenya ecological park after investigation and comparison. Badgers, introduced from Shangdong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, were released into the experimental habitat. In order to monitor badgers in new habitat, these badgers were studied on the behavioral ecology from July2009to June2011. So that we could assess the adaptability of the population on the environment in Shanghai, provide basic information and relevant basis for the study and field release. The results are as following:1. Typical activity traces of badgers, including footprints, setts, feces, feeding traces, were found in the study area. Badgers left clearly footprints on the mud and snow, especially forefoot. Active area could be determined by animal trail.7individual setts were dug but used for a short time. Latrine did not play an important role on territory marking. Feeding traces cleared that badger was omnivorous animals. More feeding traces could be found in October and November and less in December and January. 2. An artificial den and several underground piping systems were built referring to the wild badger setts. The temperature range in artificial den was narrower than outside ambient temperature. It proved that the artificial den can provided a steady lair environment for badgers.3.47behaviors had been recorded according to the observation. These behaviors were classified into four categories according the functions and features of the behavior:maintenance behavior, social behavior, reproductive behavior and stereotyped behavior. Captive space and environment factors have a great impact on the expression of badger behavior comparing the season and the region.4. The activity pattern of the reintroduced badgers was observed during February2010to May2011and was compared with badgers in Shanghai suburb. The results showed that the time of emergence from setts was earlier than that of Shanghai suburb because of artificial feeding. There was a obvious peak on the time of emergence from and return to setts in spring, summer and autumn while it was dispersed in winter. The study on winter activity pattern showed that the badgers acted once every2-4days. The duration of the activity, food consumption was positively correlated with temperature.