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Basic facts about European Badger: lifespan, distribution and habitat map, lifestyle and social behavior, mating habits, diet and nutrition, population size and status.
A summary of the habitat preferences of, and expansion into towns and cities by, Eurasian badgers.
native. Habitat. Eurasian badgers are highly adaptable and live in a wide variety of environments. Ideal habitat includes deciduous, conifer, or mixed woodlands adjacent to open fields. In addition, they may occupy hedges, scrub, and riverine habitats as well as agricultural land, grassland, steppes, and semi-deserts.
Position yourself near an active sett entrance with a solid object behind you, so you are not silhouetted, or watch them feeding in your garden. Learn everything you need to know about badger social structure, behaviour, identification and breeding in our expert guide to European badgers.
The black-and-white striped badger is a well-known species in the UK. It is our largest land predator feeding on small mammals, birds’ eggs, worms, fruit and plants. Badgers live in large family groups in burrows under the ground called a ‘sett’.
The European badger is nocturnal and lives in woodlands and shrublands across Europe and Asia. It’s incredibly powerfully-built and stereotypically black, white and grey in appearance . They grow up to around 90cm in length, and can weigh up to 17kg.
The approximate distribution of the European badger (Meles meles) in Europe. Map based primarily on Michell-Jones et al. (1999) and IUCN data, modified according to Abramov et al. (2013) and Kinoshita et al. (2017).
