Caucasian badger
Meles canescens
A stocky, short-legged mustelid with a black-and-white striped head and a grizzled grey back. It is a resident native species in Georgia.
At a glance
Key facts in one look
Diet
Omnivore
Status in Georgia
Resident
Size
~70–85 cm
Habitat
Forest / edge / scrub
Family
Mustelidae
Conservation
LC / NE
Human interaction: It has no venom. If handled or cornered it can bite. It has a strong jaw and long claws. Any wild mammal can in principle carry rabies; Georgian sources more often name fox, jackal, wolf, and dog as the main sources. Do not feed or handle it. Keep dogs vaccinated.
Overview
What is Caucasian badger
The Caucasian badger (Meles canescens) is a mammal in the weasel family (Mustelidae). In Georgian it is მაჩვი, often also ევროპული მაჩვი (“European badger”). National checklists, the hunting list, and the 2016 IUCN assessment still write Meles meles. Since 2013, specialist taxonomy treats Transcaucasian, Anatolian, and Near Eastern populations as a separate species, Meles canescens. The ASM Mammal Diversity Database lists Georgia in that range. It has no venom. The main human risk is a bite if it is handled, not poison. Globally, Meles meles in the lumped sense is Least Concern. Meles canescens has no separate IUCN assessment. It is not on Georgia’s 2014 Red List.
Last updated
Gallery
Caucasian badger in photos
Photo: Sarah Murray
Vashlovani ·
Photo: Ömer Selim Kaya
Bafra ·
Photo: Mehmet
Yalova ·
Photo: Kjetil Kjernsmo
Vayots Dzor ·
Identification
How to identify Caucasian badger
A stocky, short-legged animal with a black-and-white striped head, a grizzled grey back, and a short tail. It is resident in Georgia.
- 01
The body is low and broad, the legs short, the head wedge-shaped, the ears small with white tips. Abramov and Puzachenko treat Meles canescens as smaller than Meles meles. Anatolian samples in the literature are given about 73–84 cm head–body and about 5–9 kg; those are regional figures, not a measured Georgian series. Northern European Meles meles is often heavier in autumn — do not transfer that weight to Georgia.
- 02
A white midline stripe runs from the muzzle over the forehead; two black stripes pass through the eyes and ears. The back and sides are grizzled grey; the legs and often the belly are darker. Heptner describes the Transcaucasian form as having a dirtier-grey back than large northern Meles meles. In the field, identification to badger is by the facial mask; living Meles meles and Meles canescens cannot be told apart with confidence.
- 03
The least weasel is much smaller and elongated, without the black-and-white face. Beech marten and pine marten are slimmer, with a bushy tail, and are more typically in trees; this atlas does not yet have pages for them. The red fox is dog-like, with a slender muzzle and a long tail. The honey badger (Mellivora capensis) is not accepted here as part of Georgia’s fauna.
- 04
It is not venomous. Do not handle it. A short-legged grey animal with a striped face at a woodland edge or on a road is this species, not a marten.
Biology
Habitat, diet, behavior, and conservation
Habitat and range
In Georgia look for it in forest, woodland edge, scrub, farmland, and foothills where it can dig a sett. The National Geographic Georgia / National Museum map calls it eurytopic — in almost all biotopes, rarely in the alpine belt — and gives elevation to about 2,700 m; that figure is from that map, not a separate measured belt on this page. This page does not map administrative regions. Named Georgian localities include Vashlovani (photograph on this page, 6 June 2014); Lagodekhi, Batsara, and Kintrishi (the same map, as recent sightings); Ajameti Managed Reserve and Sataplia (Agency of Protected Areas texts); and the Iori floodplain hunting farm (management plan, listed as Meles meles leptorynchus). The map says it occurs over almost the whole country. That is a country-level summary, not a municipality list. Do not assume even density across Georgia.
Diet
There is no separate Georgian diet study on this page. At genus level it is an omnivore: in north-west Europe earthworms are often important; in Mediterranean and drier country it takes more insects, fruit, small vertebrates, and crops. Western Anatolian papers list fruit, insects, and earthworms. The realistic picture in Georgia is the same opportunistic menu at forest and farmland edges — but the local share has not been measured here.
Behavior
It is mainly active at night and at dusk. It can also be seen by day, especially where disturbance is low. A daytime sighting does not by itself mean disease. It lives in a sett — a complex burrow with several entrances and spoil heaps. A sett may be used for generations. At species-group level, Meles often has delayed implantation: mating in spring–summer, cubs usually in late winter or early spring, often several young in a litter. Those figures come from the wider range, not a Georgian den sample. The print is broad, with five toes; long digging claws show on the forefoot. The track photograph on this page is from Vayots Dzor, Armenia, 18 August 2026, not a Georgian series.
Conservation
Kranz and co-authors assess Meles meles as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (2016); that assessment includes populations now often called Meles canescens. Meles canescens has no separate IUCN status (MDD: Not Evaluated). It is not on Georgia’s 2014 Red List (Government Resolution No. 190). The national map gives national status NE and describes the population as “small”; that wording is from the map, not a separate census on this page. It is listed as a hunting species under the Georgian name მაჩვი; the official Latin line is written Martes meles — a nomenclatural error; the animal meant is the badger, not a marten. Quotas and seasons are set by agency documents and are not copied here as current numbers. Local pressures can include hunting, road mortality, and conflict over crops and hives; a national trend is not measured on this page. Do not handle wild animals.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Short answers to the most important questions about Caucasian badger.
Yes. It is on national mammal checklists. IUCN lists Georgia in the native range of Meles meles. Under current taxonomy the Georgian population is Meles canescens.
Until 2013 these populations were treated as one species. Transcaucasia, Anatolia, and the Near East are now split as a separate species. Official Georgian texts still use Meles meles. In the field it is the same striped-face badger.
In forest, woodland edge, scrub, and farmland where there is a sett. Named sites include Vashlovani (photo, 2014), Lagodekhi, Batsara, Kintrishi, Ajameti, Sataplia, and the Iori floodplain hunting farm. This page does not map every region.
Black-and-white facial stripes, a stocky short-legged body, a grizzled grey back, and a short tail. A weasel is small and has no mask. A marten is slimmer with a bushy tail.
The Southwest Asian form is smaller than European Meles meles. Anatolian samples are given about 73–84 cm head–body. There is no separate measured Georgian series on this page.
It is an omnivore: insects, earthworms, fruit, small vertebrates, sometimes crops. Diet has not been studied separately in Georgia on this page.
Mainly at night and at dusk. It can also appear by day. It is resident and does not migrate like many birds.
It is not venomous. It can bite if handled. Do not handle it. Globally, lumped Meles meles is Least Concern. It is not on the 2014 Red List. It is a hunting species; season and quota are set by official rules.
- Abramov & Puzachenko 2013 — Zootaxa 3681, Meles canescens
- ASM Mammal Diversity Database — Meles canescens
- Kranz et al. 2016 — IUCN Red List, Meles meles
- Bukhnikashvili & Kandaurov 2002 — The annotated list of mammals of Georgia
- Eliava et al. 2007 — New data on animal biodiversity of Georgia
- საქართველოს მთავრობის დადგენილება №190 (2014) — წითელი ნუსხა
- ნადირობას დაქვემდებარებული სახეობები — მაჩვი
- იორის ჭალები — სამონადირეო მეურნეობის მართვის გეგმა
- National Geographic Georgia / საქართველოს ეროვნული მუზეუმი — მაჩვი
- Heptner & Naumov 1992 — Mammals of the Soviet Union, Meles
- İbiş et al. 2015 — Turkish and Iranian Meles, cytochrome b
- APA — აჯამეთის აღკვეთილი
- Wikimedia Commons — Vashlovani 17789 (Sarah Murray, CC BY-SA 2.0)
- iNaturalist 346611381 — Ömer Selim Kaya, Bafra (CC BY-SA)
- iNaturalist 307030985 — Mehmet, Yalova (CC BY)
- iNaturalist 392279425 — Kjetil Kjernsmo, Vayots Dzor (CC BY)
Species profiles are compiled from peer-reviewed literature and established biodiversity databases, and are reviewed as new taxonomic and conservation data become available.
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