It is hard to guess what a European badger weights. But we have the answer:
An adult European badger (Meles meles) on average weights 11.89 kg (26.22 lbs).
The European badger is from the family Mustelidae (genus: Meles). It is usually born with about 90 grams (0.2 lbs). They can live for up to 16.17 years. When reaching adult age, they grow up to 70.7 cm (2′ 4″). Usually, European badgers have 3 babies per litter.
As a reference: An average human weights in at 62 kg (137 lbs) and reaches an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). Humans spend 280 days (40 weeks) in the womb of their mother and reach around 75 years of age.
The European badger (Meles meles) also known as the Eurasian badger, is a badger species in the family Mustelidae native to almost all of Europe and some parts of Western Asia. It is classified as least concern on the IUCN Red List as it has a wide range and a large stable population size, and is thought to be increasing in some regions. Several subspecies are recognized with the nominate subspecies (M. meles meles) predominating in most of Europe.The European badger is a powerfully built black, white, brown and grey animal with a small head, a stocky body, small black eyes and short tail. Its weight varies, being 7–13 kg (15–29 lb) in spring but building up to 15–17 kg (33–37 lb) in autumn before the winter sleep period. It is nocturnal and is a social, burrowing animal that sleeps during the day in one of several setts in its territorial range. These burrows have multiple chambers and entrances, and are extensive systems of underground passages of 35–81 m (115–266 ft) length. They house several badger families that use these setts for decades. Badgers are very fussy over the cleanliness of their burrow, carrying in fresh bedding and removing soiled material, and they defecate in latrines strategically situated outside their setts.Although classified as a carnivore, the European badger feeds on a wide variety of plant and animal foods, feeding on earthworms, large insects, small mammals, carrion, cereals and tubers. Litters of up to five cubs are produced in spring. The young are weaned a few months later but usually remain within the family group. The European badger has been known to share its burrow with other species such as rabbits, red foxes and raccoon dogs, but it can be ferocious when provoked, a trait which has been exploited in the now illegal blood sport of badger-baiting. Badgers are a reservoir for bovine tuberculosis, which also affects cattle. In England, culling of badger populations is used to reduce the incidence of bovine tuberculosis in cattle.
Animals of the same family as a European badger
We found other animals of the Mustelidae family:
- Stoat with a weight of 284 grams
- Beech marten bringing 1.67 kilos (3.68 lbs) to the scale
- Humboldt’s hog-nosed skunk bringing 1.1 kilos (2.43 lbs) to the scale
- Patagonian weasel with a weight of 225 grams
- Marbled polecat with a weight of 594 grams
- African clawless otter bringing 19.16 kilos (42.24 lbs) to the scale
- Palawan stink badger bringing 2.5 kilos (5.51 lbs) to the scale
- Lesser grison bringing 1 kilos (2.2 lbs) to the scale
- African striped weasel with a weight of 308 grams
- Striped polecat with a weight of 812 grams
Animals with the same weight as a European badger
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Meles meles:
- Siberian musk deer with a weight of 13.31 kilos (29.34 lbs)
- Reeves’s muntjac with a weight of 13.5 kilos (29.76 lbs)
- Plate-toothed giant hutia with a weight of 13.7 kilos (30.2 lbs)
- Bennett’s tree-kangaroo with a weight of 10.48 kilos (23.1 lbs)
- Sulawesi bear cuscus with a weight of 10 kilos (22.05 lbs)
- African golden cat with a weight of 11.29 kilos (24.89 lbs)
- Ground pangolin with a weight of 11.92 kilos (26.28 lbs)
- Black-shanked douc with a weight of 10.33 kilos (22.77 lbs)
- Side-striped jackal with a weight of 10.4 kilos (22.93 lbs)
- Pygathrix bieti with a weight of 11 kilos (24.25 lbs)
Animals with the same size as a European badger
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as European badger:
- Bobcat with a size of 69.1 cm (2′ 4″)
- Ursine colobus with a size of 63.5 cm (2′ 1″)
- Doria’s tree-kangaroo with a size of 60.4 cm (2′ 0″)
- Beira (antelope) with a size of 77.9 cm (2′ 7″)
- Zanzibar red colobus with a size of 57.4 cm (1′ 11″)
- Günther’s dik-dik with a size of 61.2 cm (2′ 1″)
- Tonkean macaque with a size of 60 cm (2′ 0″)
- Purple-faced langur with a size of 58.5 cm (2′ 0″)
- Tonkin snub-nosed monkey with a size of 56.9 cm (1′ 11″)
- Gray snub-nosed monkey with a size of 70.7 cm (2′ 4″)
Animals with the same litter size as a European badger
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (3) as a European badger:
- Nelson’s pocket mouse
- Nyika rock rat
- Plains rat
- Fulvous harvest mouse
- Kinabalu squirrel
- Amazonian marsh rat
- Nicobar shrew
- Eastern woodrat
- Arizona gray squirrel
- Andean mountain cavy
Animals with the same life expectancy as a European badger
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a European badger:
- Golden-backed uakari with an average maximal age of 18 years
- Ring-tailed vontsira with an average maximal age of 13.17 years
- South African springhare with an average maximal age of 14.5 years
- South American coati with an average maximal age of 17.67 years
- Cape ground squirrel with an average maximal age of 13 years
- Silver dik-dik with an average maximal age of 14 years
- African palm civet with an average maximal age of 18.5 years
- Antilopine kangaroo with an average maximal age of 16 years
- Red forest duiker with an average maximal age of 15 years
- L’Hoest’s monkey with an average maximal age of 16 years