European Badger

Enn Reitel Chris Lang
The European Badger (Meles meles) is a mammal indigenous to most of Europe (excluding northern Scandinavia, Iceland, Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily and Cyprus) and to parts of Asia. It is a member of the Mustelidae family, and is very closely related to the stoats, otters, weasels, minks and other badgers. Accepted subspecies include Meles meles meles (Western Europe), Meles meles marianensis (Spain and Portugal), and Meles meles leptorynchus (Russia). Some authors regard two other badgers as additional subspecies: Meles meles leucurus (the Asian Badger: China and Tibet), and Meles meles anakuma (the Japanese Badger). If these are included the name Eurasian badger is more appropriate and the distribution covers Asia from about 15° to 65° North, and from about 10° West to 135° East.