Ireland's Mammals - Badgers
The badger is one of Ireland's largest, most distinctive and misunderstood mammals. Badgers are heavy, thick-set animals with powerful limbs. Easily recognisable, the head is white with two vertical
Ireland's Mammals - Badgers
The badger is one of Ireland's largest, most distinctive and misunderstood mammals. Badgers are heavy, thick-set animals with powerful limbs. Easily recognisable, the head is white with two vertical black stripes from ears to below the nostrils. The rest of the body is grey but in there may be variations. Erythristic badgers have a sandy coloured fur, often deepening to a more reddish tone. Albino badgers are more rare. They too lack the melanin pigment and are pure white. A typical adult measures about 1m in length.
The badger is found throughout the temperate parts of Europe and Asia, from Ireland in the West to Japan in the East. It is found in all European countries including some of the Mediterranean Islands (Crete and Rhodes), only being absent from the most northern parts of Scandinavia and Russia. Ireland and England have the healthiest populations and badgers can be found in all counties here. It is "estimated" that Ireland has a total population of around 250,000 badgers. However, although badgers are a protected species under the Wildlife Act of 1976, thousands are kil