Ectoparasite infestations of Badgers (Meles meles) in Western Switzerland

Between 1999 and 2004, 160 badger carcasses (mainly road casualties and culled animals) were collected in a 600-km2 rural area of Western Switzerland (Broye region). Body and fur inspections indicated that 88.4% of the animals were infested with at least one of the following ectoparasite categories: lice (76.0%), ticks (57.5%) and fleas (19.7%). Nevertheless, the number of parasites was low, in average 2.6 fleas, 4.8 ticks and/or 17.1 lice per infested animal. No significant intersexual and age-related differences (adults vs subadults, adults vs young) were found as concerns prevalence and abundance of ectoparasites. The lower, and more constant infection by fleas in the course of the year, is concordant with the hypothesis which proposes that badgers frequently switch sleeping places in order to avoid a build up of ectoparasites in the nest material. It remains unclear whether the low loads of ticks and lice recorded in both low and high density badger populations are due to the efficiency of auto- and allo-grooming in this species, to frequent replacement or aeration of the bedding material by individual badgers, or to another, yet to be discovered mechanism. Further studies are needed to clarify whether these results are therefore indicative of a limited role of Eurasian badgers as a potential reservoir of diseases transmitted by ectoparasites.