The difficulty that badgers face is that their home ranges, while mostly based in grassland habitats, are very large and often straddle major transportation corridors. In their normal day-to-day movements throughout their 20 - 50 km² home ranges, they are forced to cross these roads and railways, which pose a major mortality risk to the individual badgers.

The following graphic shows the locations of 17 documented roadkills of badgers in the Thompson region between 1998 and 2002. The most concerning stretch of road is the TransCanada Highway between Lafarge exit and Pritchard. No fewer than 7 badgers were killed on this section of road between 1999 and 2003, including a female that had recently given birth to a kit. Road mortality is at its highest during July, when road traffic peak and male badgers are searching widely for mates.

Click here to learn more about a project that is trying to reduce the road carnage in the Thompson region.

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Copyright © 2009 jeffersonii Badger Recovery Team
Last modified: 22/01/09