Mammals of the WorldJapanese Badger
Meles anakuma
- Order
- Carnivora
- Family
- Mustelidae
- Genus
- Meles
- IUCN status
- LC
- Distribution
- Japan
- Realm
- Palearctic
About this species
- Diet
- Earthworms, insects, fruit and carrion
- Habitat
- Broad-leaved forest, plantations and rural landscapes
- Range
- Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu and Shodoshima
The Japanese badger is an endemic, stocky mustelid with short legs, strong digging claws and a pale face crossed by dark markings from the muzzle toward the ears. It occurs on Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu and Shodoshima and is smaller and less strongly sexually dimorphic than the European badger (Animal Diversity Web species account). Broad-leaved forest, conifer plantations and rural landscapes all provide suitable cover (Newman et al. 2017).
Japanese badgers are mainly nocturnal, resting by day in underground setts and reducing activity or hibernating from mid-December into February. They forage opportunistically rather than pursuing large prey, using smell to locate earthworms and insects and also eating fruit and carrion. Several setts may occur within one home range, and entrances and territorial boundaries can be marked with scent from subcaudal glands (Animal Diversity Web species account).
Description: Wildlife of Japan guide, Wildlife of Everywhere (wildlifeofeverywhere.com)