The Japanese badger ( Meles anakuma) is a species of of the family Mustelidae, the and their kin. Endemic to Japan, it is found on Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku,
Description
Japanese badgers are generally smaller (average length in males, in females) and less sexually dimorphic (except in the size of the canine teeth) than their European counterparts.
[Kaneko, Y., Maruyama, N. and Kanzaki, N. 1996. Growth and seasonal changes in body weight and size of Japanese badger in Hinodecho, suburb of Tokyo. Journal of Wildlife Research 1: 42-46.] Tail length is between . This species is similar or mildly larger than the
Asian badger. Adults usually weigh from .
[Tanaka, H. (2006). Winter hibernation and body temperature fluctuation in the Japanese badger, Meles meles anakuma. Zoological science, 23(11), 991-997.][Yoshimura, K., Shindo, J., & Kageyama, I. (2009). Light and scanning electron microscopic study on the tongue and lingual papillae of the Japanese badgers, Meles meles anakuma. Okajimas folia anatomica Japonica, 85(4), 119-127.] The average weight of female Japanese badgers in one study from the
Tokyo area was found to be while that of males was .
[Kaneko, Y., & Maruyama, N. (2005). Changes in Japanese badger (Meles meles anakuma) body weight and condition caused by the provision of food by local people in a Tokyo suburb. Mammalian Sci, 45, 157-164.] In Yamaguchi Prefecture, the average spring weight of female and male Japanese badgers was and .
[Tanaka, H. 2002. Ecology and Social System of the Japanese badger, Meles meles anakuma (Carnivora; Mustelidae) in Yamaguchi, Japan. Ph.D Thesis, Yamaguchi University.] The torso is blunt and limbs are short. The front feet are equipped with powerful digging claws. The claws on the hind feet are smaller. The outer coat has long gray-brown hair. Ventral hair is short and black. The face has characteristic black-white stripes that are not as distinct as in the
European badger. The dark color is concentrated around the eyes. The skull is smaller than the European badger.
Origin
The absence of badgers from
Hokkaido, and the presence of related
Meles leucurus in
Korea, suggest that the ancestral badgers reached Japan from the southwest via Korea.
Genetic studies indicate that there are substantial differences between Japanese and Asian badgers, which were formerly considered
Conspecificity, and that the Japanese badgers are genetically more homogenous.
Habits
Like other members of
Meles, Japanese badgers are
nocturnality and
hibernation during the coldest months of the year.
Beginning at 2 years of age, females mate and give birth to litters of two or three cubs in the spring (March–April). They mate again shortly afterwards, but delay implantation until the following February.
Japanese badgers are more solitary than
; they do not aggregate into social clans, and mates do not form
. During mating season, the range of a male badger overlaps with those of 2 to 3 females.
Badgers with overlapping ranges may communicate by
scent marking.
Habitats
These badgers are found in a variety of woodland and forest habitats.
Folklore
In Japanese mythology, badgers are shapeshifters known as
mujina. In the
Nihon Shoki, mujina were known to sing and shapeshift into other humans.
Diet
Similar to other
, the Japanese badger's diet is omnivorous; it includes
,
beetles,
berries and
.
The Japanese badger's diet varies depending on seasonal availability. Based on fecal analysis, studies have shown that earthworm consumption is highest in the warmer seasons, coupled with berries, persimmons, and small insects in the summer months. When earthworms are less abundant in cooler months, the Japanese badger consumes more wild berries, like
Rubus palmatus and
Rubus hirsutus, while consuming the most persimmons during the fruit's peak availability in the fall season.
Threats
Although it remains common, the range of
M. anakuma has shrunk recently.
Covering an estimated 29 per cent of the country in 2003, the area had decreased 7 per cent over the previous 25 years.
Increased land development and agriculture, as well as competition from introduced
are threats. Hunting is legal but has declined sharply since the 1970s.
In 2017, concern was raised by an upsurge in badger culling in Kyushu. Apparently encouraged by local government bounties and increased popularity of badger meat in Japanese restaurants, it is feared the culling may have reached an unsustainable level.
See also
-
Mujina, a badger creature from Japanese folklore
-
Blakiston's Line, the faunal boundary line drawn between Hokkaidō in the north and Honshū, south of it, while certain animal species can only be found north of the line, certain other species can only be found south of it.
