Search

1Successful wildlife management needs to be underpinned by frequent evaluation of the problems arising and the management techniques used to resolve them. The aims of this review were: (i) to investigate spatial and temporal patterns in the occurrence and characteristics of badger–human conflict in England; and (ii) to determine which factors influence the success of management actions. Licences are required before interfering with badgers or setts, so we carried out analyses of records of applications received by Defra and data from follow-up monitoring of management actions. 2The number of licence applications rose significantly during the recording period (1994–2004), with an increasing proportion coming from the east of England and from urban, as opposed to rural, areas. Damage problems caused by setts were the most frequent sources of conflict in both urban and rural areas. However, the majority of rural problems related to agricultural land, whereas buildings and gardens were most affected in urban areas. A higher proportion of problems involved outlier setts in urban areas compared with rural areas. 3The use of one-way gates to exclude badgers from part or all of a problem sett was the commonest management action proposed by Defra Wildlife Advisers, with total sett closure more common in urban, compared with rural, areas. Follow-up monitoring revealed that the success of action varied in relation to the type of sett causing a problem, the type of management action undertaken and the land use (urban or rural) at the problem location, with total closure of an urban main sett being the least successful strategy. This review provides an assessment of current trends in conflict occurrence and will help in the development of management techniques.

1. The distribution and density of Eurasian badgers Meles meles in Luxembourg was estimated by gathering information about the location of badger setts with a questionnaire survey, by visiting 708 setts in order to classify them as ‘main setts’ or ‘outliers’, and by estimating social group size by directly counting emerging badgers. 2. Badgers were found to be widely distributed in Luxembourg, with a minimum main sett density of 0.17 setts/km2. Setts were sited preferentially in forest habitat. The mean minimum group size was 4.6 badgers. 3. The Luxembourg badger population was conservatively estimated to contain at least 2010 adult and young badgers (95% CI 1674–2347) in spring 2002, equivalent to a density of 0.78 adult and young badgers/km2 (95% CI 0.65–0.91). This is moderate compared to most of continental Europe.

1. Temperature and relative humidity were measured within 12 badger Meles meles setts over periods ranging from 24 hours to 1 year. 2. Relative humidity was 100% within all setts at all times of year. Mean daily, monthly and annual within-sett temperature ranges were 0.37°C, 1.5°C and 10.7°C, respectively, and were significantly less than the corresponding ambient temperature ranges of 8.9°C, 19.0°C and 24.1°C. 3. There was no evidence that the temperature regime of main setts differed from that of outlier setts. Within a single large main sett, temperatures taken simultaneously at different sampling points differed by up to 2.5°C. The temperature of nest chambers that were occupied by a badger was, on average, 2.4°C higher than in unoccupied chambers. 4. We conclude that: (i) variation in within-sett temperature and humidity is not sufficient to explain the complex way in which badgers use the setts available to them; and (ii) the environmental conditions within badger setts are such as would be expected to favour the survival of bovine tuberculosis Mycobacterium bovis bacilli.

Radio-telemetry was used to track dispersal in five adult Eurasian badgers Meles meles (four males and one female) from three social groups. 2. All animals moved to a territory immediately neighbouring their home territory. Three of the males dispersed simultaneously as a 'coalition'; the other two individuals dispersed solitarily. 3. The process of dispersal took from 2 to 9 months. Dispersing animals first made nocturnal forays into the new territory but returned to their own territory to sleep. They then began to sleep progressively more often in setts in the new territory, and less often in their original territory. During this period, dispersers foraged in both the old and the new territory, before eventually settling into a home range centred exclusively on the new territory. 4. We conclude that dispersal can be a lengthy and complex process, even when the distance involved is small.

The diet of wild boar Sus scrofa in Western Europe is reviewed, paying particular attention to the consumption of agricultural crops and the implications of this from the point of view of crop damage. Data were taken mainly from 11 studies that provide quantitative informa- tion about the consumption of different food types, but we also list all the foods reported as being eaten by wild boar in a total of 21 studies. 2. Vegetable foods occurred more frequently in the diet than animal foods, and also consti- tuted the bulk of the food ingested. Overall, there were four major vegetable food categories: mast, roots, green plant matter and agricultural crops. Depending on the study area, wild boar always consumed at least one energy-rich plant food such as acorns, beechnuts, chest- nuts, pine seeds, olives, cereal grains or other crops. The number and types of agricultural crops consumed varied between study areas but crops represent an important component of wild boar diet throughout its Western European range. Among animal foods, insects, earthworms, birds and mammals were eaten most consistently but the diet also included amphibians, reptiles, gastropods and myriapods. 3. Seasonal, interannual and regional differences in the diet, together with its striking overall breadth, indicate that wild boar are opportunistic omnivores whose diet, in any particular instance, is largely determined by the relative availability of different food types. Dependence on energy-rich plant material as a major component of the diet, coupled with large body size and a propensity to trample crops as well as consume them, means that wild boar cause significant agricultural damage.

Wildlife management and conservation programmes are likely to attract media attention, especially when the programmes in question involve large mammals. The present study surveyed the response of the press (national and local newspapers, and magazines) to the existence of two populations of free-living Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) that established in southern England in the early 1990s, following the escape of animals from captivity. One-hundred and seven target articles from 46 different titles were searched for references to 18 separate issues related to topics such as agricultural damage, risk to humans and ecological impact. The presence of free-living Wild Boar in the English countryside attracted predominantly negative press coverage: the issues most frequently raised by newspaper and magazine articles were that the animals constitute a danger to the public, damage agricultural crops, predate livestock and transmit disease. A minority of articles argued that the animals should be conserved, mainly on the grounds that they could be hunted for meat. There was relatively little coverage of environmental issues, and what there was tended to focus on detrimental effects of Wild Boar on native flora and fauna. We conclude that management and conservation programmes involving large, allegedly dangerous mammals are likely to encounter an adverse press reaction. This is something that the organizers of such programmes may need to take into account when predicting public attitudes.

We review 69 studies of the diet of Badgers Meles meles L. in the former Soviet Union, using information from 58 Russian-language papers. Animal foods occurred more frequently in the diet than vegetal foods and constituted, on average, 62% of all intake by volume. The most important individual food categories were insects (30% by volume) and small mammals (20% by volume), which appear to be staple foods of Badgers over virtually the whole of the former Soviet Union. Earthworms were mentioned in only a few reports and never exceeded 5% of the diet by volume. Other animal foods included birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, molluscs and carrion. Fruits were seasonally important in some areas while roots, tubers, bulbs, cereals and nuts were also eaten; but in general, the Soviet literature lacks detailed information about vegetal foods. Many authors comment on seasonal variation in the diet and there was statistically significant seasonal variation in the frequency with which small mammals, reptiles, insects and vegetal foods were eaten. No largescale geographical trends were apparent in the composition of the diet, but foods which were of minor importance overall, such as reptiles, amphibians and molluscs, were sometimes eaten with high frequency in particular localities. The results support the view that Badgers are opportunistic, generalist foragers, with a preference for animal foods when these are available.

Badger setts vary considerably in size, ranging from simple single-entrance burrows to complex tunnel systems hundreds of metres long with multiple entrances and underground chambers. Data from 19 excavated setts show that main setts are larger than other setts in terms of area and volume, and contain more chambers, nests and latrines; but setts of different sizes and types are built according to the same basic architectural principles. Little is known about the environmental conditions within setts, other than that temperature and humidity are constant in parts of a sett that are at least 7 m from the nearest entrance. Setts are used for breeding and as sleeping places and refuges, but a question remains as to the functional value of large setts. It is suggested that large main setts allow members of a social group to avoid one another underground, especially when breeding. Little is known about the use of other types of sett.