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is relatively flattened and well developed for a digging lifestyle. Three subspecies of badger occur in Canada, where it is distributed from British Columbia?s Interior to southwestern Ontario. In British Columbia, all badgers are currently classified as the jeffersonii subspecies. This subspecies is listed federally as Endangered in Canada on Schedule 1 of the federal Species at Risk Act (SARA).1 Two populations of this subspecies were recognized in 2012 by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC): Western Population and Eastern Population. Both populations were designated as Endangered by COSEWIC in 2012 because each had less than 250 mature individuals. The American Badger is ranked nationally (at the species level only) as N4. In British Columbia, it is ranked collectively as S2 (imperiled) by the B.C. Conservation Data Centre, and the species is on the provincial Red list. The B.C. Conservation Framework ranks the species as a priority 1 under goal 3 (maintain the diversity of native species and ecosystems). Under the British Columbia Wildlife Act, the American Badger is protected from capture and killing, except under defense of property. It is listed as a species that requires special management attention to address the impacts of forest and range activities under the Forest and Range Practices Act (FRPA) and the impacts of oil and gas activities under the Oil and Gas Activities Act (OGAA) on Crown land (as described in the Identified Wildlife Management Strategy).
The primary habitat requirements for badgers are soil conditions suitable for digging and available prey populations. In British Columbia, the American Badger is typically associated with grassland and open forest ecosystems, which are most common at valley bottom elevations; however, badgers can be found at any elevation up to, and including, alpine areas, and in various types of forested and unforested ecosystems. American Badgers tend to prefer coherent soils comprised of coarse silts to fine sand with low coarse material content, usually in areas with glaciolacustrine, lacustrine, and fluvial parent materials. American Badgers are opportunistic hunters, preying on a wide variety of animals. Columbian Ground Squirrel (Urocitellus columbianus), Yellow-bellied Marmot (Marmota flaviventris), and microtine rodents are preferred prey.
Limiting factors include low lifetime reproductive capacity, reduced gene flow owing to isolation of populations within the province, low juvenile survivorship, and large home range size that increases exposure to threats (especially males and dispersing juveniles).
The main threat facing American Badgers in British Columbia is road mortality, which is the main cause of death within all studied populations. Other threats include habitat loss related to urban and commercial housing; cultivation agriculture, viniculture and orchards; mining and large-scale solar energy production; forest ingrowth and encroachment, resulting from fire suppression; and off-road vehicle use. American Badgers are reliant on prey populations that often face poisoning and are susceptible to secondary poisoning if contaminated prey are consumed.
The recovery (population and distribution) goal is to maintain or increase the Western and Eastern Populations to levels sufficient to ensure persistence over time, and to maintain the distribution of the species across the known range in British Columbia....
Prepared by British Columbia Badger Recovery Team. 2016. Recovery Plan for American Badger (Taxidea taxus) in British Columbia. Province of British Columbia, Ministry of Envoronment. BC Recovery Strategy (Species at Risk)
Topic: Recovery Planning
Keywords: B.C., Species at Risk, COSEWIC, SARA
ISSN:
Scientific Name: Taxidea taxus
ISBN:
English Name: American Badger
Other Identifier:
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