The researchers carried out autopsies on 30 badgers that had been killed by traffic and collected by volunteers. The results show the presence of badgers in all the Flemish provinces. In Limburg, where two sizeable populations in Haspengouw and the area around Voeren.

Some of the animals were determined to be "far dispersers": solitary animals, mainly young females (sows) and older males (boars), who have left the den and wandered into other areas. One young female was found in Overijse, Flemish Brabant, in March 2009 and another in Buggenhout, East Flanders, which had been foraging among grain stores.

Others, however, could not have been wanderers from the Limburg dens. One female found in Adinkerke, West Flanders, behind the sea-dunes, had recently given birth, making it highly unlikely she had travelled from Limburg. However, no trace of a local den was found in the dunes.

"We have discovered that some of the animals have been in contact with mates and have reproduced, which is spectacular news for the provinces outside of Limburg," commented INBO spokesman Koen Van Den Berge. www.inbo.be