How Badgers Use Their Home Range: A Movement Study

Jenn Hoskins
29th August, 2025

How Badgers Use Their Home Range: A Movement Study

European Badger (Meles meles)

Photo adapted from: Andrejus Gaidamavičius / CC BY (Source)

Key Findings

  • This UK study used GPS tracking to examine badger movement patterns across different regions and management strategies
  • Male badgers generally move more than females, and movement increases in February potentially linked to reproductive behaviour
  • Culling programs appear to disrupt badger social structures, leading to increased roaming and changes in territorial organisation detected by advanced data analysis
Understanding how animals move is crucial for effective wildlife management. Animal movement patterns aren’t simple; they change depending on the scale – from daily foraging to long-term migrations. Accurately interpreting these patterns is difficult, but essential for conservation efforts. A recent study conducted by researchers from the University of Surrey, the Animal and Plant Health Agency, the Zoological Society of London, the Department of Agriculture (Northern Ireland), Heriot-Watt University, the Surrey Institute for AI, and the University of Cambridge[1] investigated badger movement to address this challenge. The study focused on European badgers ( Meles meles ) in three geographically distinct regions of the UK: Gloucestershire, Cornwall, and Northern Ireland. Researchers analysed movement data collected from badgers in these areas, aiming to identify patterns related to their social organisation and how these patterns are affected by human interventions. The core of the study involved two main analytical techniques: diffusion analysis and extended dynamic mode decomposition (EDMD). Diffusion analysis is a statistical method used to characterise how animals distribute themselves across a landscape. It essentially measures how far an animal typically moves from its starting point over a given time. This provides insights into the scale of their movements – are they staying close to home, or ranging widely? The researchers used a generalised linear mixed-effects model to understand how various factors influence this diffusion. The more novel aspect of the study was the application of EDMD. EDMD is a complex mathematical technique originally developed for analysing fluid dynamics, but it’s increasingly being used in ecology to identify underlying patterns in animal movement data. It works by breaking down complex movement trajectories into simpler, repeating patterns, or ‘modes’. These modes can then be linked to specific behaviours or social structures. This approach aligns with the growing trend in movement ecology to move beyond simple random walk models and focus on how animals interact with their environment and make choices[2]. A key finding was that in some areas, the EDMD analysis successfully identified clusters of badger movements that corresponded to known social group home ranges. This suggests that EDMD can effectively reveal the spatial organisation of badger societies. However, in other areas, there were discrepancies between the EDMD clusters and the observed group territories. The researchers attributed these discrepancies to badger culling programs – a population management intervention used to control badger numbers in certain regions. This highlights the power of the method to not only reveal natural movement patterns but also to detect the impact of human activities. Interestingly, this study builds upon previous research demonstrating the importance of chemical signals in badger communication[3]. Badgers use latrines – communal toilet areas – to deposit scent markings containing a complex mixture of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). These VOCs convey information about individual identity, sex, and reproductive status. The current study, by revealing how badgers structure their movements across the landscape, provides a spatial context for understanding how these chemical signals are used to maintain social boundaries and coordinate group activities. The ability to infer social interactions from movement data, as demonstrated by, complements the understanding of communication mechanisms revealed by VOC analysis[3]. Furthermore, the work presented in echoes the broader challenge of inferring interaction rules within complex systems from observational data[4]. The researchers successfully applied advanced statistical learning techniques to movement data, without needing pre-defined assumptions about how badgers interact. This is a significant step forward, as it allows for a more flexible and data-driven approach to understanding animal behaviour. The methods used in this study offer a promising framework for studying territoriality and assessing the effects of management strategies on animal movement. The combination of diffusion analysis and EDMD provides a powerful toolkit for ecologists seeking to understand the complex dynamics of animal populations.

WildlifeEcologyAnimal Science

References

Main Study

1) Data-driven analysis of fine-scale badger movement in the UK

Published 28th August, 2025

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1013372

Related Studies

2) Understanding movement data and movement processes: current and emerging directions.

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2008.01249.x

3) Knowing Me, Knowing You: Anal Gland Secretion of European Badgers (Meles meles) Codes for Individuality, Sex and Social Group Membership.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-019-01113-0

4) Nonparametric inference of interaction laws in systems of agents from trajectory data.

https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1822012116


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