Badger sociality—models of spatial grouping

Abstract

Abstract European badgers (Meles meles L.) are unusual amongst carnivores in that they form large groups, sharing a territory and a communal den, but forage alone on small prey. There is very little evidence of co-operative behaviour, raising the question of why groups form. Most discussions of group living in non-co-operative carnivores have concentrated upon group territoriality, suggesting circumstances under which territory holders might benefit from allowing other animals to share their territories. One family of models, the Resource Dispersion Hypotheses (RDH), demonstrates that the rule which a primary territory holder uses to choose a minimum territory, in a world where food is patchily distributed in space and time, can allow additional animals to share the territory at little or no cost to the territory holder. Another model, the Prey Renewal Hypothesis, shows more generally how rapid prey renewal may allow several animals to share a home range. Finally, the Territory Inheritance Hypothesis (TIH) suggests that territory holders might allow their offspring to share the territory if the possibility of inheriting this resource would enhance their future reproductive success.