DON'T BADGER BROCK

30-10-2006

The Stirrer's campaign to protect Ravenhurst Playing Fields in Birmingham is prompted, in part, by the desire to protect the badgers living there. But as Sandra Dudley reports, that's only one threat facing a much-loved animal...

Badgers have lived in Great Britain longer than man, the earliest known remains, discovered in Cambridgeshire, are at least a quarter of a million years old. Yet still today badgers are persecuted. Illegally dug from their setts for the horrific act of badger baiting, which involves a badger fighting to the death against terriers after being cruelly handicapped.

The Protection of Badgers Act was introduced 1992, in an attempt to stamp out badger baiting, and all the following are criminal offences.

Another threat to badgers is development..As more and more towns push out into the countryside it is inevitable that badgers, who do not move out of their territory, which is an area of about 1 mile, will be affected. Planning departments should ensure that all protected species are a material consideration in the planning process, and mitigation measures put in place to protect them.

Unfortunately some Planners are not as diligent as they should be, and ecological surveys are not always requested. As a result many badger setts disappear under the bulldozer, if caught, a contractor or developer can face prosecution for destroying a badger sett, which could result in a prison sentence or a fine of up to £5000.

The latest threat to Britain's best loved wild animal is from the Government, who have been consulting to decide whether to authorize a widespread cull of badgers in order to try to control the spread of TB in cattle. The cull has been put on hold at the moment because, following the introduction of stricter cattle movement controls and improved TB testing, the numbers of TB incidents in cattle has decreased, and the Chief Vetinary Officer had been despatched to try to discover why the numbers are dropping, without a single badger being legally killed.

The NFU and the farmers are still calling for a cull of badgers, as they refuse to accept that the spread of TB amongst cattle could be down to the movement of untested cattle, flawedtesting or poor husbandry on their part.

The Staffordshire Badger Conservation Group was formed in 1986 by a small group of people who were involved in an incident of badger persecution. Since then the group has grown considerably in size and now covers all aspects of badger conservation.

A large part of the group's work involves liaison with the police, RSPCA and landowners, in an attempt to stop the illegal persecution of badgers. The group has also been involved in the successful prosecution of badger diggers. We give help and advice to members of the public who may be having problems with badgers damaging their property and we have successfully rescued orphaned badger cubs, which have been introduced to other cubs and released back into the wild, to secure sites, where they now live as truly wild groups of badgers. We also attend road casualties and do all we can for the injured badger, but sadly this is most often having the animal put to sleep.

The vetting of planning applications is another important area of our work, and we are always grateful to members of the public who bring planning applications to our notice, where badgers could be affected. Badgers present at an application site will not prevent the development, but the badgers must be considered and protected, and with the help of the public we try to ensure that they are.

If you would like more information on The Staffordshire Badger Conservation Group, or on badgers in general you can contact us via the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust, The Wolseley Centre, Wolseley Bridge, Stafford, ST17 0WT.

The badgers of Great Britain have never needed your help more that they do today.