American badger
Taxidea taxus (Schreber, 1777)
The American badger (Taxidea taxus), also called the badger, is a mammal in the family Mustelidae and subfamily Taxidiinae, within the order Carnivora. It is a medium-sized, terrestrial and nocturnal carnivore, with an adult body mass of 7.1 kg and values up to 8 kg.
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Quick facts about the American badger
Gestation lasts 43.8 days, litters have 3 young, and sexual maturity is reached at 332.4 days, with values from 223.7 to 441 days. The American badger has a lifespan of 26 years and is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
- Weight
- 7.11 kg – 8 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 26 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Carnivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- grasslandsrc for Habitat
- Gestation
- 43.8 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 3src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 7.35 months – 14.5 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 0.74src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- At night (nocturnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the American badger
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the American badger live?
Not recorded
What is the American badger?
The American badger (Taxidea taxus) is a North American badger similar in appearance to the European badger, although not closely related. It is found in the western, central, and northeastern United States, northern Mexico, and south-central Canada to certain areas of southwestern British Columbia.
The American badger's habitat is typified by open grasslands with available prey (such as mice, squirrels, and groundhogs). The species prefers areas such as prairie regions with sandy loam soils where it can dig more easily for its prey.
From the Wikipedia article “American badger” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=American_badger&oldid=1384666323), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the American badger endangered?
The American badger is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the American badger classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderCarnivora
- familyMustelidae
- genusTaxidea
- SpeciesTaxidea taxus (Schreber, 1777)
Synonyms Ursus taxus
Other names and names in other languages (39)
- BadgerEnglish
- መጣጤAmharic
- غرير أمريكيArabic
- TaixudoAragonese
- woh'ooo'Arapaho
- Toixó americàCatalan
- jezevec americkýCzech
- Amerikansk grævlingDanish
- SilberdachsGerman
- Αμερικανικός ΑσβόςGreek
- TejónSpanish
- Tejón norteamericanoSpanish
- TlalcoyoteSpanish
- amerikanmäyräFinnish
- blaireau d'AmériqueFrench
- amerikai borzHungarian
- Tasso americanoItalian
- アメリカアナグマJapanese
- 아메리카오소리Korean
- ĀpšiLatvian
- Tsisheró:henMohawk
- BejarMalay
- PræriegrevlingNorwegian Bokmål
- DassenDutch
- ZilverdasDutch
- MisagakojiishOjibwa
- Borsuk amerykańskiPolish
- Borsucznik amerykańskiPolish
- Texugo-americanoPortuguese
- Bursuc americanRomanian
- Viezure americanRomanian
- Американский барсукRussian
- Американские барсукиRussian
- JazvecSlovak
- JazbecSlovenian
- แบดเจอร์Thai
- Amerika PorsuğuTurkish
- Борсук американськийUkrainian
- 美洲獾Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the American badger
Other species in the same family Mustelidae.
European badger
Meles meles
Least weasel
Mustela nivalis
Eurasian otter
Lutra lutra
Stoat
Mustela erminea
Wolverine
Gulo gulo
European pine marten
Martes martes
CompareAmerican badger vs European badgerAmerican badger vs Least weaselAmerican badger vs Eurasian otterAmerican badger vs Stoat
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the American badger?
The American badger is a mammal in the family Mustelidae, order Carnivora. It belongs to the subfamily Taxidiinae and the genus Taxidea.
How heavy is an American badger?
An adult American badger has a body mass of 7.1 kg, with values up to 8 kg reported. This places it in the medium size class.
What does the American badger eat?
The American badger is a carnivore. It is terrestrial and nocturnal.
Is the American badger endangered?
No. The American badger is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does an American badger live?
The American badger has a lifespan of 26 years.
How many young does an American badger have?
An American badger has 3 young per litter, with 0.74 litters per year. Gestation lasts 43.8 days.
When does an American badger reach sexual maturity?
The American badger reaches sexual maturity at 332.4 days, with reported values from 223.7 to 441 days.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). American badger (Taxidea taxus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/american-badger
“American badger (Taxidea taxus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/american-badger.
@misc{american_badger_2026,
title = {American badger (Taxidea taxus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/american-badger},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}