Ecology of Urban badgers Meles meles: Distribution in Britain and habitat selection, persecution, food and damage in the city of Bristol

Abstract

Few towns and cities in Britain were found to contain badgers, and in most the numbers of setts were low. Urban areas most likely to contain badgers were those in which badgers were common in the surrounding rural areas; most urban badger populations were thought to be relicts that had survived urban encroachment. In a detailed survey of Bristol, 346 setts were located in an area of 129·4 km 2. These setts were confined mainly to three areas; their past history, present distribution, habitat selection and levels of disturbance are discussed. The damage caused by badgers in north-west Bristol to garden crops and other aspects of their nuisance value are documented. The food of badgers in the same area of Bristol is also described; unlike rural badgers they took a diversity of food types, but specialized in feeding on fruit in the autumn.