Time for Nature

Bringing back the badgers

December 12, 2005

A Research and Recovery Program in Kootenay National Park of Canada

When nature takes its course, the badger has little to fear. Few other animals will take on this fierce fighter. Badgers will even follow their prey down into their burrows. But the badger is in decline. The jeffersonii subspecies of badger, which is found in Kootenay National Park of Canada , is especially vulnerable. There are fewer than 350 adults, and the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada has designated the subspecies endangered .

The badger is the only carnivore that burrows after and eats other tunnelling animals.
© Tim McAllister

Human activities are the primary threat to badgers. The valleys the badgers inhabit are changing. Urban development is shrinking their habitat and the growing network of roads is increasing the death rate of the badger and its chief prey, the Columbian ground squirrel .

Burrowing badgers are important to grassland

The badger is the only carnivore that burrows after and eats other tunnelling animals, thereby helping control ground squirrel, mice and vole populations. When badgers dig in pursuit of prey or to excavate a burrow, they improve the soil conditions for various plants. Their large burrows also provide shelter for other wildlife, such as burrowing owls (another endangered species) and snakes.

Rebuilding the badger population

In the park, forest growth has altered portions of the badgers' grassland habitat.
© Parks Canada, T. Grant, 1976

The East Kootenay Badger Reintroduction and Threat Mitigation Project aims to restore badger populations in the region. First, researchers capture the badgers and implant a radio transmitter. Then, they return the badgers to the wild, using a radio-telemetry receiver to track their movements. With this information, biologists can assess badger population trends, habitat needs and the effects of human activities. Biologists have also brought wild badgers from Montana to rebuild the East Kootenay population.

Of the badgers brought from Montana, three females successfully reproduced in 2004, providing a total of eight baby badgers (called kits) to the population.

Improving habitat

The Columbian ground squirrel is the badger's chief prey.
© Parks Canada, W. Lynch, 1988

In the park, forest growth has altered portions of the badgers' grassland habitat. Historically, natural fires kept the forest from overtaking the open grassy woodlands and grasslands. But with the decrease in fire frequency, dense forests with few grasses or shrubs have replaced much of the badger's habitat. Parks Canada is working to restore the grasslands through prescribed fire .

A helping hand

Most high-quality habitat for badgers is found on private land, so landowner stewardship is an essential conservation tool.

Project biologists are also working closely with golf course managers, highway designers and private landowners to encourage stewardship practices for the recovery of badgers. For instance, Parks Canada and the British Columbia Ministry of Transportation recently built the first badger tunnel in the province! Badgers will use these culverts to cross highways. There is also a toll-free Badger Hot Line for citizens to report badger sightings.

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