Summary
We studied food habits of the badgerMeles meles in a rural Mediterranean area. During one year, 329 faeces were collected twice a month and later analysed. Vegetal matter represented the bulk of the diet, which appears unimodal in comparison to other European studies. Many domestic and wild fruit species and crops were important in total diet by themselves. Invertebrates were frequently eaten, but in smaller volumes than insects in other studies in the Mediterranean area and earthworms in Central/Northern Europe. Vertebrates exceeded invertebrates in terms of volume, although they were present in just a half of the samples. The description of the badger as a generalist or a specialist feeder might have been affected by analyses focused either on volume or occurrences. The results of our study seem to support the hypothesis of the badger as opportunistic food generalist.
Zusammenfassung
Wir untersuchten die Ernährungsgewohnheiten des DachsesMeles meles in einem ländlichen mediterranen Gebiet. Ein Jahr lang wurden 2 mal pro Monat Kotproben gesammelt (insgesamt 329 Proben) und später ausgewertet. Die Nahrung bestand zum grö\ten Teil aus Pflanzenteilen, was eine unimodale Verteilung verglichen mit anderen europäischen Studien ergab. Viele gezüchtete und wilde Obstarten sowie Feldfrüchte waren wichtige Nahrungskomponenten Wirbellose Tiere wurden zwar häufig gefressen, jedoch in geringerem Umfang als Insekten in anderen Studien aus dem Mittelmeerraum und Regenwürmer Mittel- und Nordeuropa. Das Volumen der verzehrten Wirbeltiere überstieg das der Wirbellosen, obwohl Vertebraten nur in der Hälfte der Proben vorkamen. Die Beschreibung des Dachses als Nahrungs-Generalist beziehungsweise Spezialist könnte dadurch beeinflusst worden sein, dass sich die Analysen entweder auf den Volumenanteil oder das Vorkommen der verschiedenen Nahrungsbestandteile konzentrierten. Die Ergebnisse unserer Studie scheinen die Hypothese zu stützen, dass der Dachs ein opportunistischer Nahrungs-Generalist ist.
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Melis, C., Cagnacci, F. & Bargagli, L. Food habits of the Eurasian badger in a rural Mediterranean area. Zeitschrift für Jagdwissenschaft 48 (Suppl 1), 236–246 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02192413
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02192413