Japanese badger
| Japanese badger | ||||||||||||
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Japanese badger ( Meles anakuma ) in Inokashira Park Zoo |
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| Meles anakuma | ||||||||||||
| Temminck , 1844 |
The Japanese badger ( Meles anakuma ) is a predator from the family of the Marder and one of four species of the genus Meles , previously in a way were summarized. The distribution is limited to the Japanese islands of Honshū , Kyushu , Shikoku and Shōdoshima . The species is absent on Hokkaidō and the smaller islands. Although the population trend has been declining for decades, the IUCN has so far not considered it to be endangered (“least concern”).
description
The Japanese badger is significantly smaller than the European badger with a head body length of adult animals between 58 and 83 cm . The tail length is between 14 and 20 cm and the weight of adults is usually between 4 and 8 kg.
The Japanese badger is similar to the European badger. The body is stocky, the legs are short and the front paws have strong digging claws. The claws of the rear paws are less pronounced. The coat is relatively long-haired and gray on the top, but plays strongly into the brownish. The underside is shorter and black. The face has a characteristic black and white stripe pattern, which is more blurred than that of the European badger. The dark color is concentrated around the eyes. In addition, the head is smaller overall and the gender dimorphism is less pronounced in terms of size.
Distribution and existence
The Japanese badger colonizes the islands of Honshū, Kyushu and Shikoku, and it also occurs on Shodoshima in the Seto Inland Sea . It is missing on other small islands and on Hokkaidō.
The population of the Japanese badger has declined and its spatial distribution has shrunk in most provinces. Although the hunting pressure on the species fell sharply - probably due to a lack of interest - and the annual distances dropped from 7,000 hunted animals in 1970 to 2,000 in the late 1980s, the decrease in the population was about 7%. The main causes of endangerment are presumably the loss of habitat associated with the intensification of land use and the strong competition from introduced raccoons . So far, however, the species is not threatened according to the IUCN.
Way of life
The Japanese badger colonizes numerous habitat types. Typically it occurs in deciduous forests , subalpine coniferous forest plantings made of larch , cedar or cypress trees or in the richly structured cultivated landscape. It is more likely to be found near settlements than the European badger. The species is also found in the suburbs of Tokyo .
In the summer months the species feeds mainly on annelid worms from the Megascolecidae family . In addition to bugs , berries and persimmons eaten. If annelworms are less available in the winter months, the proportion of plant-based food increases.
The species is predominantly nocturnal. Especially females with offspring can sometimes be found looking for food during the day. Between July and October, the activity outside of the burrow usually begins at dusk and ends at sunrise. From November the nocturnal activity period becomes shorter and between January and February the winter rest usually sets in , which lasts between 42 and 80 days.
Like the European badger, the Japanese badger lives in extensive earthworks, which are mostly located in the core zone of a claimed area and are built on slopes in hilly terrain. There are also other ancillary buildings and sleeping nests, most of which are located on the edge of a district. During the year, the building is changed several times, with an average of 13.5 buildings being used each year.
According to recent research, social behavior differs from that of European badgers. Family groups in this species only consist of females and their offspring. The territory of such an association is usually around 11 hectares. Males presumably live solitary and continue to roam. Their approximately 40 hectare territories mostly contain those of two to three females. A temporary relationship is established with the females in the mating season between April and August - but usually soon after the birth in April - during which mating also occurs. Due to a prolonged gestation period due to dormancy of the fertilized egg, pregnancy does not occur until February. A litter includes one to four young. Females are fully grown after a year and leave the family unit after about fourteen months. Males take two years to reach full size and stay with the mother for up to 26 months. In both sexes, sexual maturity occurs after about two years.
Systematics
Until the end of the 1990s, the Palearctic badger ( Meles meles ; see Distribution of Arctonyx ) was considered the only recent species of the genus Meles . More recent morphological studies of the baculum and molars as well as studies of the mitochondrial DNA have shown that the three subspecies groups described so far each deserve species status. The species was therefore divided into the European badger ( Meles meles ), the Asian badger ( Meles leucurus ) and the Japanese badger ( Meles anakuma ).
literature
- Don E. Wilson, Russell A. Mittermeier (Eds.): Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Volume 1: Carnivores. Lynx Edicions, 2009, ISBN 978-84-96553-49-1
- Hiroshi Tanaka: Seasonal and daily activity patterns of Japanese badgers (Meles anakuma) in Western Honshū, Japan , The Mammalogical Society of Japan, Mammal Study 30 (2005), pp. 11-17
- S. Tashima, Y. Kaneko, T. Anezaki, M. Baba, S. Yachimori, R. Masuda: Genetic diversity within the Japanese badgers (Meles anakuma), as revealed by microsatellite analysis , The Mammalogical Society of Japan, Mammal Study 35 (2010), pp. 221-226
Web links
- Meles anakuma in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2008. Posted by: Kaneko, Y. & Sasaki, H., 2008. Accessed March 20, 2011th
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Don E. Wilson, DeeAnn M. Reeder, et al .: Mammal Species of the World. A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference , 3rd Edition, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 2005, ISBN 978-0801882210
- ↑ a b Information from Tokyo Kaneko et al. 1996 and Yamaguch, Tanaka 2002 cited in IUCN Redlist, s. Web links
- ↑ Abramov (2005), quoted in IUCN Redlist, s. Web links
- ↑ IUCN Redlist, s. Web links
- ↑ Alexei V. Abramov: Variation of the baculum structure of the Palearctic badger (Carnivora, Mustelidae, Meles) , Russian Journal of Theriology 1/2002, pp. 57-60, PDF
- ↑ Gennady F. Baryshnikov, Andrey Yu. Puzachenko, Alexei V. Abramov: New analysis of variability of cheek teeth in Eurasian badgers (Carnivora, Mustelidae, Meles) , Russian Journal of Theriology, 2002, 1 (2), pp. 133-149
- ↑ Naoko Kurose, Yayoi Kaneko, Alexei V. Abramov, Boripat Siriaroonrat, Ryuichi Masuda: Low genetic diversity in Japanese populations of the Eurasian badger Meles meles (Mustelidae, Carnivora) revealed by mitochondrial cytochrome b gene sequences . Zoological Science 18, 2001, pp. 1145-1152.