Meles meles
The european badger is a relatively large mustelid with black-and-white and sometimes brown fur that lives in Eurasia. Its body length is 60-90 cm, its body height is 25-30 cm and its body mass is about 7-13 kg in spring and 15-17 kg in autumn. Albino, erythristic and melanistic individuals have been recorded. It is very common in Europe and some populations tend to increase.
The breeding happens in spring, but this is not strict. The gestation preiod lasts seven weeks and the litter consists of 1-5 cubs. They normally reach sexual maturity in 12-15 months.
The European badger is an omnivore. Its diet includes: warms, insects, carrion, fruit, rabbits, rodents, hedgehogs, wasps, berries, acorns, birds, amphibians, tortoises, snails, fungi and grass.
According to the IUCN the European Badger is considered as Least Concern (2016).
The european badger is very distinguable from the other mustelids of Greece, because of its black-and-white color, its big size (25-30 cm body height and 60-90 cm in body length) and its distinct body shape.
There are 8 subspecies of the European badger in the world. In Greece we can find Meles meles arcalus (endemic of Crete), Meles meles rhodius (only in Rhodes) and the type subspecies Meles meles meles.
Distribution (Greece)
The European Badger occurs in the whole mainland, in Crete, Corfu, Paxi, Lefkada, Ithaca (and the small islands around), Saronikos’ islands, Kythira and Rhodes.
Distribution (worldwide)
The species Meles meles exists in the whole Europe (excluding Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, Balearids, Malta, Cyprus and some Greek islands), Asia Minor, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Syria, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.