Badger photographed in the Kamloops area.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Taylor Borth

The American badger is in a bad state in the Southern Interior and an initiative to help them cross the road could make a difference.

The B.C. Badger Connectivity Initiative is a project involving the BC Ministry of Transportation, the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, the Simpcw Resources Group and Badgers in BC to reduce badger deaths.

American badgers are an endangered keystone species, meaning the ecosystem is dependent on them, and road kill accounts for up to 85 per cent of badger deaths in Thompson, Okanagan and Cariboo, according to the Thompson-Nicola Conservation Collaborative.

The plan for the initiative is to build culverts as highway crossings for badgers at five sites where they are most frequently run over and make digital tools like cameras and GPS devices to help track badgers. 

Since the summertime gets more people out on the roads and more activity from wildlife, environmentalists are particularly concerned about badgers getting run over this time of year. Folks can contribute as citizen ecologists by spotting badgers and their burrows and reporting them to the program.

“Sightings from people on the land are one of the most important tools we have,” Ceryne Staples, who leads the badger conservation program within Simpcwu´l?ecw said in a news release. “These reports support our work, contribute to provincial tracking efforts, and help protect badgers and the places they rely on.”

READ MORE: Bat count this year shows promise for Okanagan population

Badger population estimates vary but the Okanagan Similkameen Stewardship Society says that there are about 250 badgers left in B.C. and only roughly 30 left in the Okanagan Valley.

The Badger Connectivity Partnership said more data is crucial for protecting badgers.

A badger burrow.

Image Credit: Parks Canada/Richard Klafki

Badger burrows are roughly 24 centimetres by 20 cm, not to be confused with marmot burrows which are smaller or coyote dens which are bigger.

Badgers dig incredibly quickly and can get a metre of depth in a minute.

Coyotes and badgers sometimes work as a team to hunt rodents since the badger can dig them out quickly and then the coyote can run them down.

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