Diet of the European badgers (Meles meles) in urban and rural areas of Norway

Abstract

The constant expansion of urban habitats provides new opportunities for various wildlife species, referred to as urban exploiters or adapters that allow them to thrive in new conditions. The Eurasian badger (Meles meles) can adapt to and exploit urban ecosystems due to its omnivorous behaviour but the species expansion into this habitat can cause conflict with humans, and there is a paucity of data on badgers in urban habitats. The aim of our study was to explore trophic adaptations of badgers inhabiting urban and rural habitats in Norway. We examined 159 individual badgers by conducting detailed evaluation of allometric factors and trophic analyses of stomach contents. Mean body mass (± SE) of males (9.94 ± 0.28 kg) was significantly heavier than females (9.02 ± 0.32 kg). Mean body mass of rural versus urban badgers were not significantly different. However, body mass varied between seasons with an increasing trend throughout the year from spring (7.77 ± 0.24 kg), summer (9.08 ± 0.34 kg) and autumn (11.12 ± 0.33 kg). We identified 12 unique food categories. There were no significant differences in badgers’ diet with regard to sex or habitat type. However, the diet varied seasonally and was dominated by earthworms in spring, followed by insects, birds and small mammals in summer, and domestic plants (fruits and cereals) and anthropogenic food in autumn.