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Badgers Feeding Behaviour - No Evidence of Social Hierarchy
Journal
Ethology, Volume
108, Number 7, July 2002, pp. 613-628(16) -
Blackwell Publishing
Authors
Macdonald D.W.; Stewart P.D.; Johnson P.J.; Porkert
J.; Buesching C.
Abstract
Linear or despotic dominance hierarchies are common in
carnivore societies. However, in feeding experiments in the field with
wild European badgers, we found no compelling evidence for any such
hierarchies within badger groups, or even between the members of neighbouring
groups. The outcome of dyadic encounters within groups was partly determined by
asymmetries in weight and length, but these predictors were readily confounded
by ownership. Aggression between members of neighbouring groups during
encounters at feeding sites at territorial borders was extremely rare. These
rather ad hoc aspects of social organization reinforce the view that badger
societies are somewhat loosely structured.
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