While highway mortality appears to be the biggest threat to badger populations in the Cariboo, the loss of habitat is also a major concern.
Although 85 per cent of B.C. is crown land, the total grassland area shared by badgers and many other grassland species at risk is only 0.7 per cent of the land base. Any time grasslands are paved over they lose irreplaceable habitat.
“So 30 per cent of the rare and endangered species live on 0.7 per cent of the land,” said habitat biologist Roger Packham. “And when you look at what’s going on in other parts of the province it’s really significant.”
Most of the habitat loss is associated with farms and ranches being subdivided or built upon. When you go down into Kamloops and see all the development it’s all habitat loss, said Packham.
“You get wineries going in, those sorts of things. You get a field that’s cultivated, you know, for annual crops - they’re all losses as far as badgers and many other grassland species are concerned,” he said.
The impact of habitat loss is significant in areas like the Okanagan.
“It’s a much bigger impact down there, given the expansion of all the towns and cities and so on. You look at the wine industry and all the grasslands and open areas that are going under the plow basically for wineries and vinyards and those sorts of things - it’s significant.”
READ MORE: Cariboo badgers at risk from vehicles on Highway 97
Badgers in BC are largely dependent on the farmers and ranchers. Most of them are very wildlife-oriented and love to see wildlife on their properties.
In B.C. they are also the ones that have large holdings of land that have a suitable habitat for badgers. Even overgrazing and the removal of too much forage can have a huge impact on badger populations, he said.
“Badgers mostly eat ground squirrels and marmots. They’re their two favourite foods and if you go into the literature anywhere, that’s what it will tell you that they eat,” he said. “There are certain areas in the Cariboo where there are no ground squirrels and so badgers are much more highly dependent on mice and chipmunks and those sorts of animals.”
Without sufficient ground cover, mouse and other populations drop off, decreasing the food available for badgers.
“I think the majority of farmers and ranchers are trying to do as best they can for wildlife, while at the same time having a viable ranch operation,” said Packham, adding that they are critical to the survival of many wildlife populations in the province.
While badgers can provide pest control for farmers by eating ground squirrels and other pests, their excavations can potentially compromise ranchers’ fields. Packham said he tells ranchers to just rake over badger excavations so they can hay their fields- the badgers won’t care in that regard.
“So we want ranchers to look after the land, do whatever they’ve got to do in order to maintain their field so they can use their fields as they normally would as long as they allow the badgers to persist.”
The old Marmot Ridge Golf course is a prime example of the positive impacts of badgers said Packham. Several years ago there was over 1,000 marmots living in the golf course.
“It was aptly named. When you walked down the 7th fairway there it was like the parting of the sea with all these marmots,” he said. “And all these marmots would move out of your way as you moved through.”
After a couple of years badgers moved onto the property and the marmot population was slashed to a handful.
When Packham started the Cariboo badger project in 2003 they had a hard time finding badgers, with less than 10 known locations. Over time they got better at locating them.
“When I retired from government in 2011 we were up to thousands of known badger burrow locations and sitings. For whatever reason in 20 years our badger population has really increased here in the Cariboo.”
The only thing they can put it down to is the Mountain Pine Beetle. It moved in and killed a whole bunch of pine forests and when those forests were harvested it opened up new habitats for the badgers. For once, they were the winners.
“And that’s what we think, it’s the only thing we can put it down to.”
