Video 4. Two male Japanese badgers (Meles anakuma) offspring digging together. One dug inside the sett and the other carried the soil and nesting materials from the inside to the outside of the sett.

(75.5MB, 00:00:24)
Shot Date: 2014/11/12
Shot Location: Ryuge, Miyano, Yamaguchi City, Yamaguchi, Japan

* species
Meles anakuma

Key Words
Den maintenance
Simultaneous digging
Sibling
Male offspring
Delayed disperser


Hiroshi Tanaka 
2021/08/04 submitted



Animalia >Chordata >Mammalia >Carinvora >Mustelidae >Meles >

Below is the abstract from the article containing this video:

In some vertebrates, sexually mature individuals delay dispersal from their natal sites. Delayed dispersers are known to help their parents in many species; however, few studies have investigated the behavior of delayed dispersers in carnivores. Male offspring of the Japanese badger, Meles anakuma, remain in their natal sites and share setts with their mothers well after reaching sexual maturation. In this study, we investigated the contribution of male delayed dispersers in den maintenance activities of digging and bedding at their setts from September to February between 2010 and 2018. We found that delayed dispersers contributed approximately 60 and 30% of digging and bedding tasks, respectively. Specifically, while digging was constantly performed throughout the surveyed period, efforts in bedding gradually increased from September to February. We also found that delayed dispersers occasionally performed digging and bedding simultaneously with their mothers and siblings. Mothers may allow the male offspring to remain in the natal sites because of their help with den maintenance. It is probably advantageous for the males to remain in a familiar environment and have access to resources until they become large and competitive enough to establish and defend their mates and their own territories. Digital video images related to the article are available at http://www.momo-p.com/showdetail-e.php?movieid=momo210707ma01a, http://www.momo-p. com/showdetail-e.php?movieid=momo210707ma02a, http://www.momo-p.com/showdetail-e.php?movieid=momo210707 ma03a, http://www.momo-p.com/showdetail-e.php?movieid=momo210707ma04a, http://www.momo-p.com/showdetail-e. php?movieid=momo210707ma05a, http://www.momo-p.com/showdetail-e.php?movieid=momo210707ma06a and http:// www.momo-p.com/showdetail-e.php?movieid=momo210707ma07a.

Hiroshi Tanaka, Yukihiro Fukuda, Etsuko Yuki, Yukihiro Ota, Eiji Hosoi, and Wataru Kojima (2022).
Cooperative den maintenance between male Japanese badgers that are delayed dispersers and their mothers. J. Ethol. 10.1007/s10164-021-00718-x

(Data No.momo210707ma04a)

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