Badger flea Badger flea The badger flea ("Paraceras melis") is an external parasite of the European badger ("Meles meles"). It has also been found on the fox ("Vulpes vulpes"), the dog ("Canis familiaris"), the cat ("Felis catus"), the European polecat ("Mustela putorius"), the mole ("Talpa europaea") and the fallow deer ("Dama dama"). The badger flea, like other fleas, is a small, dark brown wingless insect with a tough, chitinous cuticle. Its body is flattened laterally and it has mouthparts designed for sucking the blood of a badger. Like other fleas, the badger flea has a life cycle consisting of an egg, a
Ethiopia of its policies. Meles' government was elected in 2000 in Ethiopia's first-ever multiparty elections; however, the results were heavily criticized by international observers and denounced by the opposition as fraudulent. The EPRDF also won the 2005 election returning Meles to power. Although the opposition vote increased in the election, both the opposition and observers from the European Union and elsewhere stated that the vote did not meet international standards for fair and free elections. Ethiopian police are said to have massacred 193 protesters, mostly in the capital Addis Ababa, in the violence following the May 2005 elections in the Ethiopian