Badger (Meles meles) contact metrics in a medium-density population

Abstract

Animal interactions are an important component of sociality in wildlife populations. Recent advances in technological and analytical applications have provided an unprecedented opportunity to understand individual, population and community level interactions. In this study, close-range contact rates within a medium-density badger (Meles meles) population were investigated using proximity collars. Data were available from 15 badgers, across five different social groups with 12,969 interactions recorded. All collared badgers within social groups contacted each other, with mean intra-group contact frequency 7.75±0.16 contacts/day and mean intra-group contact duration 413.70±16.45s/day. Inter-group contacts between badgers only occurred between directly adjacent social groups, at a low frequency (<1% of all contacts). Badger intra-group contacts occurred during every hour of the day and had a bimodal distribution pattern that peaked during early morning and evening. There was significant variation in contact frequency according to individual badger, month, sex and social group, independent of age and minimum daily temperature. Mean social group contact rates were not correlated with estimates of social group size. This study contributes to the growing evidence base for significant individual behaviour components within badger social group dynamics, which has implications not only for the transmission of diseases such as bovine tuberculosis but also in terms of the evolution of sociality itself within this species.