Skip to main content
Log in

The diet of Asian badger, Meles leucurus Hodgson, 1847, in Samarovskii Chugas Nature Park, Western Siberia

  • Published:
Russian Journal of Ecology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The diet structure of Asian badgers (Meles leucurus Hodgson, 1847) on Bol’shoi Chukhtinskii Island (Samarovskii Chugas Nature Park, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area) was studied by means of coprological analysis. Ten diet components were identified, including Siberian stone pine seeds (pine nuts), berries, earthworms, larval and adult insects, fishes, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals. The proportion of pine nuts was especially large. Seasonal fluctuations in the occurrence frequency and abundance of different foods were insignificant, but some of them were found to markedly vary between years.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abramov, A.V., Savel’ev, A.P., Sotnikov, V.N., and Solov’ev, V.A., Distribution of Two Badger Species (Mustelidae, Meles) in European Russia, in Sistematika, filogeniya i paleontologiya melkikh mlekopitayushchikh (Small Mammals: Systematics, Phylogeny, and Paleontology), St. Petersburg: Zool. Inst. Ross. Akad. Nauk, 2003, pp. 5–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Afanas’ev, Yu.G., Sludskii, A.A., and Bekenov, Yu.A., Mlekopitayushchie Kazakhstana (Mammals of Kazakhstan), vol. 3, part 2: Khishchnye (kun’i, koshki) (Carnivores: Mustelids and Felines), Alma-Ata: Nauka, 1982.

    Google Scholar 

  • Balestrieri, A., Remonti, L., and Prigioni, C., Diet of the Eurasian Badger (Meles meles) in an Agricultural Riverine Habitat (NW Italy), Hystrix It. J. Mamm. (n.s.), 2004, vol. 15, no. 2, pp. 3–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bobretsov, A.V., Population Dynamics of the Northern Red-Backed Vole (Clethrionomys rutilus) in the Northern Cisural Region over a 50-Year Period, Zool. Zh., 2009, vol. 88, no. 9, pp. 1115–1126.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bol’shakov, V.N., Berdyugin, K.I., and Kuznetsova, I.A., Mlekopitayushchie Srednego Urala: Spravochnik-opredelitel’ (Mammals of the Middle Urals: A Reference Book and Identification Key), Yekaterinburg: Sokrat, 2006.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chashchin, P.V., The Role of Earthworms (Lumbricidae) in the Diet of Badgers (Meles meles L.) in the Il’men Nature Reserve, in Ekologicheskie problemy gornykh territorii (Ecological Problems in Mountain Regions), Yekaterinburg, 2002, pp. 218–220.

  • Ekologiya Khanty-Mansiiskogo avtonomnogo okruga (The Ecology of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area), Plotnikov, V.V., Ed., Tyumen: SoftDesign, 1997.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fischer, C., Ferrari, N., and Weber, J.-M., Exploitation of Food Resources by Badgers (Meles meles) in the Swiss Jura Mountains, J. Zool. (London), 2005, vol. 266, pp. 121–131.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geptner, V.G., Naumov, N.P., and Yurgenson, P.V., Mlekopitayushchie Sovetskogo Soyuza (Mammals of the Soviet Union), vol. 2, part 2: Morskie korovy, khishchnye (Manatees and Carnivores), Moscow: Vysshaya Shkola, 1967.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gorshkov, P.K., Barsuk v biotsenozakh Respubliki Tatarstan (Badgers in Biocenoses of the Republic of Tatarstan), Kazan: Tabigat’, 1997.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goszczysńki, J., Jędrzejewska, B., and Jędrzejewski, W., Diet Composition of Badgers (Meles meles) in a Pristine Forest and Rural Habits of Poland Compared to Other European Populations, J. Zool. (London), 2000, vol. 250, pp. 495–505.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kruuk, H. and Parish, T., Feeding Specialization of the European Badger, Meles meles, in Scotland, J. Anim. Ecol., 1981, vol. 50, pp. 773–788.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laptev, I.P., Mlekopitayushchie taezhnoi zony Zapadnoi Sibiri (Mammals in the Taiga Zone of Western Siberia), Tomsk: Tomsk. Gos. Univ., 1958.

    Google Scholar 

  • Markov, N.I., Zagainova, O.S., and Zinovjev, E.V., Biocenotic Connections of the Badger in the Forest-Steppe Zone of the Middle Urals, Sokhranenie raznoobraziya zhivotnykh i okhotnich’e khozyaistvo Rossii: Mat-ly nauch.-praktich. konf. (Animal Biodiversity Conservation and Game Management in Russia: Proc. Sci.-Pract. Conf.), Moscow, 2005a, pp. 214–217.

  • Markov, N.I., Zagainova, O.S., and Zinovjev, E.V., Diet Composition and Feeding Strategy of Badger (Meles meles) in Middle Urals, Extended Abstracts of the XXVII Congress of the International Union of Game Biologists, Hannover, 2005, Pohlmayer, K., Ed., Hamburg: DSV-Verlag, 2005b, pp. 408–410.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pigozzi, G., The Diet of the European Badger in a Mediter-ranean Coastal Area, Acta Theriol., 1991, vol. 36, nos. 3–4, pp. 293–306.

    Google Scholar 

  • Revilla, E. and Palomares, F., Does Local Feeding Specialization Exist in Eurasian Badgers?, Can. J. Zool., 2002, vol. 80, pp. 83–93.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosalino, L.M., Loureiro, F., Macdonald, D.W., and Santos-Reis, M., Dietary Shifts of the Badger (Meles meles) in Mediterranean Woodlands: An Opportunistic Forager with Seasonal Specialisms, Mammal. Biol., 2005, vol. 70, no. 1, pp. 12–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rossolimo, O.L., Pavlinov, I.Ya., Kruskop, S.V., et al., Raznoobrazie mlekopitayushchikh (The Diversity of Mammals), Moscow: KMK, 2004, part 3.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smolonogov, E.P., Ekologo-geograficheskaya differentsiatsiya i dinamika kedrovykh lesov Urala i Zapadno-Sibirskoi ravniny (ekologo-lesovodstvennye osnovy optimizatsii khozyaistva) (Ecogeographic Differentiation and Dynamics of Siberian Stone Pine Forests in the Urals and the Western Siberian Plain: Ecological and Sylvicultural Foundations of Optimal Management), Sverdlovsk: Ural. Otd. Akad. Nauk SSSR, 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  • Starikov, V.P., Vrotnaya, N.K., Shamgunova, R.R., et al., Amphibians and Reptiles in the Samarovskii Chugas Nature Park, Bol’shoi Chukhtinskii Island, in Biologicheskaya nauka i obrazovanie v pedagogicheskikh vuzakh (Biological Science and Education in Pedagogical Colleges and Universities), Novosibirsk, 2005, vol. 4, pp. 136–138.

    Google Scholar 

  • StatSoft Inc., STATISTICA: Data Analysis Software System, Version 6, StatSoft Inc., 2001.

  • Talantsev, N.K., Kedr (The Siberian Stone Pine), Moscow: Lesnaya Promyshlennost’, 1981.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tumanov, I.L., Redkie khishchnye mlekopitayushchie Rossii (melkie i srednie vidy) (Rare Carnivores of Russia: Small and Medium-Sized Species), St. Petersburg: OOO Branko, 2009.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zagainova, O.S., Preliminary Data on the Feeding of Asian Badger (Meles leucurus Hodgson, 1847) in the Pripyshminskie Bory National Park, in Evolyutsionnaya i populyatsionnaya ekologiya: nazad v budushchee. Mat-ly konf. molodykh uchenykh (Evolutionary and Population Ecology: Back to Future. Proc. Young Sci. Conf.), Yekaterinburg, 2009, pp. 53–57.

  • Zinovjev, E.V., Data on the Fauna of Beetles (Insecta, Coleoptera) in the Samarovskii Chugas Nature Park, in Biologicheskie resursy i prirodopol’zovanie: Sb. nauch. tr. (Biological Resources and Nature Management: Collected Scientific Works), Surgut, no. 8, pp. 90–113.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to O. S. Zagainova.

Additional information

Original Russian Text © O.S. Zagainova, N.I. Markov, 2011, published in Ekologiya, 2011, No. 5, pp. 376–383.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Zagainova, O.S., Markov, N.I. The diet of Asian badger, Meles leucurus Hodgson, 1847, in Samarovskii Chugas Nature Park, Western Siberia. Russ J Ecol 42, 414–420 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1067413611050158

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1067413611050158

Keywords

Navigation