Why Badgers Have A Hard Time

Badgers are found in many countries including North America, Europe, Africa and Asia. Consequently there are legends and superstitions associated with them in many cultures.

The Badger is an iconic animal in the UK and instantly recognisable with its distinctive black and white markings. Badgers are strong in British culture and feature in classic children’s literature including Rupert the Bear by Mary Tourtel and Kenneth Grahame’s Wind in the Willows.

The world over, badgers are known as tenacious animals, that do not give up easily and always achieve their goals. They are sociable as they live in a community in their setts. These are intricate underground tunnel systems that they keep immaculately clean and tidy- with sleeping chambers and separate bathrooms!

The badger is a nocturnal animal and really loves his home and feels safe and secure when sleeping in it during the day. Badgers can be friendly with other animals and have been filmed playing with other animals such as foxes.

In recent years however, the badger has become much maligned in the UK for several reasons –

Badgers May Infect Cattle With A Life Threatening Disease

In England, the badger has been suspected of being  the carrier of the bacteria Mycobacterium bovis which mutates as bovine tuberculosis (bTB) and is a severe disease in cattle. This resulted in the UK government introducing a badger cull in 2013. Many people were against the cull and studies made in 2019 proved that the cull was in fact having the opposite effect as badgers were being forced to move to new areas to survive – and thus if they were carriers, would be spreading the disease..

The Badger Trust states-

Over 176,000 badgers have been killed since the current badger cull began in England in 2013. Badgers are killed in their thousands from Cornwall to Cumbria under misguided and fundamentally flawed attempts to control bovine Tuberculosis (bTB), an infectious respiratory disease which affects cattle.

This map from the Badger Trust website shows the areas in England where the badger cull has been taking place and it is thought unlikely that the cull will be halted any time before 2025.

The map gives details on how much of each country is culled and also the number of badgers that have been culled in each county.

The Badger Trust states that last year in 2021, 33,687 were killed.

The total number of badgers that have been culled since 2013 equals 33% of the total badger population- which is  a shocking statistic.

Badgers Could Have Also Caused A Decline In Hedgehogs

The hedgehog has long been Britain’s favourite mammal. In recent years, the number of hedgehogs has dropped dramatically and many thought that it is because badgers are the main predator of hedgehogs.

It’s true that hedgehog populations did increase marginally in areas where badgers were being culled, but a number of experts have stated that the main causes of the decline in numbers of hedgehogs are that there are fewer hedgerows and house owners have smaller, tidier gardens.

…And On Ground Nesting Birds…

For a number of years, badgers  have also been thought to be responsible for the decline in numbers of ground nesting birds and many members of the general public have believed this to be true.

A study was made recently in south-west England in badger culling areas and non-culling areas and numbers are very similar and ornithologists believe that other reasons such as the use of certain pesticides are to blame.

Badgers Are Cruelly Hunted In China

The continuing cull of the badger in the UK shows no sign of abating and in fact, five new culling areas were introduced in July 2021. This is coupled with the appalling conditions that thousands of badgers are suffering in China, where many are abused, malnourished and killed for their hair that is used in the manufacture of shaving brushes.

Interestingly, there has been a global outcry about the use of badger hair for shaving brushes and thankfully, the industry is now much reduced as responsible manufacturers around the world are now making shaving brushes from excellent synthetic materials.

If this is the case, surely it is time that the British government reassesses the value of the badger cull and stops the slaughter of this beautiful and much maligned animal?

There is a window of hope for the poor maligned badger. In May 2021, despite the creation of seven new badger cull zones, the British government said that licences for badger culling will end in 2022 and a new programme focusing on badger vaccination, increased cattle testing and the development of effective new cattle vaccines will all be implemented…

Food for thought indeed….