Huddersfield & District Badger Group

OUR WORK

We are a dedicated group of enthusiastic volunteers who work to protect this delightful native species within the Kirklees area of West Yorkshire.

To do this effectively we keep records of badger setts, check them on a regular basis, follow up reports of badger sightings and survey new areas for badger activity. The Government’s demands for ever more housebuilding seems unlikely to abate at any point soon, so we monitor local planning applications, and our records help when mitigation may be required.

We recover badgers killed on the road providing them with dignity in death. We have the expertise and equipment to respond to injured badgers, and we work in conjunction with the required agencies to give badgers the best care and chance of survival but sometimes unfortunately the only option is to euthanise.

When funds allow, we construct artificial setts to house orphaned cubs and rehabilitated badgers.

We attend local shows to fundraise, engage with the community and enable education, encourage tolerance, appreciation, and respect for badgers. We work in conjunction with West Yorkshire Police, wildlife rescues, veterinary practices, councils, ecologists, landowners, developers, and other badger groups to carry out our prime objective of protecting badgers for future generations.

For hundreds of years badger persecution was rife and following the introduction of the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 badger groups were formed across the country. Badgers have an unenviable record of persecution and remain one of Britain’s most persecuted species with an estimated 30,000 becoming the victims of wildlife crime each year.  The most unthinkable crimes are the malicious ones, which include deliberate sett interference and blocking, badger digging and baiting, snaring, lamping, poisoning and unlicensed shooting. Sadly, in recent years persecution has once again increased so if we find a sett that has been targeted by wildlife criminals, we put measures in place to protect the sett and future welfare of the badgers. Unfortunately, crime comes in a variety of guises – almost all of them rooted in ignorance and misinformation.

Badgers live in a self-regulating society which maintain their numbers at a natural equilibrium and live in harmony with the environment, they are eco engineers providing habitat for other species, and are a joy to observe. Badgers are omnivorous which means they have a varied diet, but their staple food is earth worms. Urbanisation and development mean badgers are often squeezed into unsuitable areas with little foraging therefore increasing competition between species for food.

Other threats to badgers and all wildlife are modern farming practices, busy roads, development, and the Government condoned badger cull. The badger cull continues to expand every year and there is still no credible scientific evidence that culling badgers reduces levels of bovine TB in cattle. An outbreak of bTB is devastating to all concerned and accurate testing, alongside improved biosecurity and better monitoring of cattle movement is the way forward. Current testing is unreliable, healthy cattle are slaughtered whilst reactors test negative and remain within the herd; they then become vectors and continue to spread the disease. Sadly, badgers have become a scapegoat for bovine TB and are shot without prior testing. All mammals including domestic animals can carry TB.

If you are fortunate enough to see badgers in the wild, please appreciate their beauty, their innocence, and our hope is that one day they will go about their lives without the shadow of persecution from man.

in Scotland the interests of badgers and badger lovers are covered by www.scottishbadgers.org.uk