Scent-Marking Behaviour of the European Badger (Meles Meles): Resource Defence or Individual Advertisement?

Abstract

European badgers (Meles meles) are nocturnal mustelids. Unlike most other members of this family, which are mainly solitary or pair-living (Powell, 1979; Johnson et al., 2000), badgers live in closely related groups of up to 30 individuals (Rogers et al, 1997). However, the adaptive significance of group-living in this species remains unclear (e.g.Woodroffe and Macdonald, 1993). Incidences of truly co-operative behaviour have not as yet been reported, and although there is some evidence of allo-parental behaviour (Woodroffe, 1993), the benefit of apparent “helpers” for cub-survival appears to be negligible (Woodroffe and Macdonald, 2000). Other behaviours, such as allo-grooming, which are often considered as primitive forms of co-operation, appear to follow a “tit for tat” pattern in badgers (Macdonald et al., 2000). Thus, sociality in Meles meles is often explained instead on the basis of ecological factors, such as food distribution (Kruuk, 1978; Macdonald, 1983). It has only recently become possible to study in detail the behavioural repertoire underlying social group dynamics in badgers, as advances in remote infra-red video surveillance (Stewart et al., 1997b) have overcome the traditional problems of working with nocturnal species. Observations using this technique have already provided insights into sett-maintenance (Stewart et al., 1999) and dominance (Murphy et al., in press). It now offers great potential regarding scent-marking behaviour. In this paper we review the scent-marking behaviour of badgers along territory boundaries, at the sett, and in social context, and we discuss the significance of olfactory signals in the context of both resource defence and individual advertisement.