Badger Extinction
The
earliest badger remains found in Britain date back to circa
250,000
years, while remains found in a cave system near Cheddar date back to
60,000 years ago. Badgers are known
as
one of the fastest digging (faster
than even a fox)
animals in the world. Setts
can be hundreds of years old with
many having
been
occupied
for many generations; and one in Derbyshire is even mentioned in the
Domesday Book.
There
are many urban badger populations due to the fact that villages used
to have local badger setts and as cities have grown, Bristol being a
good example, so those villages become part of (districts in) the
City. Cars do take their toll on badgers and The Bristol Badger
Deaths Register tries to record as many of these as are reported.
Apart from a small number of mild mange cases badgers appear to be
doing well though there are natural illnesses.
Although rarely
eaten today in the United States, definitely not in the United
Kingdom badgers were once a primary meat source for the diets of
Native Americans and European colonists. Various body parts were also
used in ‘medicines’ and the hides used for clothing and shield
coverings and Scottish sporrans also used badger fur. The badger was
not unique in being killed for fur and meat as the fox also shared
that fate -in some areas of France fox meat was still being eaten
into the late 19th century.
From
a book on the uses of animals:Universiteitsbibliotheek
Leiden, BPL 1283 (Herbarius/De
medicamentis ex animalibus),
folio 53r
The
badger was also killed for ‘fun’ later on and the German
Dachshund was bred to hunt badgers. Hunts at one time trail-dragged
using a badger or domestic cat they had killed with the hopes that
the smell of the blood would later be followed by an inquisitive fox.
In baiting the badgers teeth would be smashed or its lower jaw
severed to allow the dogs a good attack and kill while providing the
badger with no way to defend itself.
At
one point badgers (like otters, polecats and other mammals) were
wiped out in the North of England and with local parishes offering
what at the time was good money to kill adult and cub badgers it was
a very profitable pastime.
In
A
vertebrate fauna of Lakeland : including Cumberland and Westmorland
with Lancashire north of the sands
by
Hugh Alexander MacPherson, 1892, there
is a section headed The
Destruction Of Wild Animals and
he write:
“Badger
“Under the
title of ‘Brock,’ this interesting but ill-used animal figures in
the lists of the victims of our hill-men with tolerable frequency,
though the Kendal tale of slaughter is at present unsurpassed. There
are certain holes on Orton Scar known as ‘ Pate holes.’ The elder
Gough offered the comment a century ago, that ‘ Pate’ was an
obsolete name for the Badger. After searching many folios of parish
accounts, often difficult to decipher, I have at last discovered this
name in one of the books of Penrith parish. It occurs as far back as
the year 1658: ‘payed for Killinge a ffoxx £00, 02s, 06d. payed
for killinge of two paytes, £00, 02s. 00d.’ The irony of fate
compels me to withdraw an unlucky remark, made on p, 42, that 1741 is
the first date at which I have found the name of ‘ Badger’
applied to Meles taxus in Lakeland.’ It appears to have been first
recognised locally towards the close of the seventeenth century.
“The Dacre
parish book contains an entry,
‘To Lancelot Holme
of Penerath [Penrith] for Killing of a badger, £00, 00s. 06d.’
This payment was registered in 1690.
“Seven years
later, in 1697, the Penrith wardens made an entry of their own:
‘To John Salkeld
for a Badger Head, £0, Os. 6d.’
“The Barton
parish book includes an entry made for the Chepelry of Martindale in
1706:
‘To Mich. Tyson
and Tho. Cookson for killing of two wild Cats and a badger, £0, 3s.
Od.’
“In 1715 an
entry occurs in the Barton parish book:
‘To Lord
Lonsdale’s Huntsman for a badgher, £0, 1s. Od.’
“In the Dacre
parish the word ‘Brock’ continued to be used in preference to the
term ‘ Badger’ for the first few years of the eighteenth century,
a remark that is equally true of Barton; but the modern term soon
supplanted the older synonym. The records of Badgers butchered in
Dacre parish between 1685 and 1750, a period of sixty-five years,
yields a total mortality of thirty six individuals, This includes an
entry for the year 1736, in which the chronicler records the death of
ten of these harmless creatures in a single year.
“Perhaps the
saddest feature of this exterminating policy lies in the fact that no
mercy was shown even to the tender young. Among the disbursements of
the churchwardens of Dacre for 1694 you may read this shameful entry:
‘Imprimis for 6 Brock heads 4 old and 2 young, £00, 05s. 00d.’
The Barton book is equally guilty in asserting the slaughter of such
innocents. In 1731 it records, ‘One old Badger, £00, Ols. 00d., 3
young Badgers £00, Ols. 00d.’ The same thing recurs in 1732 : ‘
3 ould Badgers, £00, 03s. 00d., 2 young Badgers, £00, 00s. 08d.’
Truly a ‘ pittisome’ affair this !”
McPherson adds a
note:
“Professor Skeat says that in Middle English
[1200-1460] ‘ this animal had three familiar names, viz., the
brock, the gray, and the bawson, but does not seem to have been
generally called the badger’ (Dictionary of the English Language,
p. 47). He adds that the name is a sort of nickname derived from the
Middle English badger or bager=‘a dealer in corn.’ This fanciful
origin is verified by the fact that the French equivalent ‘
blaireau’ is derived from the French b/é, corn.”
It is
interesting that even the ‘great sportsman’ Sir John Colquhoun
described badgers as inoffensive and of no harm -he did, however, as
a good father let both of his sons each kill a badger so that they
got the fun of it but then banned any badger hunting.
Other historians
note how great a job the locals had done in eradicating badgers, wild
cats, etc. from the Lakelands/Cumbria. It was all “proud work”
and praised. Badger-baiting was not for a gentleman but, if the fox
was not about chasing a badger would do. In fact, by the 1860s
hunting and bounty work had seen that the old Greyhound, Hill and Cur
foxes were extinct as were wild cats and many other species including
red squirrels. The 1860s marks the peak period in the “Golden Age
of Hunting” and the only way it could continue was with the yearly
importation of more foxes (mainly from Europe), red squirrels, deer
and so on. Wild cats hybrid or otherwise were also moved around the
“shooting areas” where people purchased a licence and expected to
get in some ‘fun shooting’ and this we have no just taxidermy
evidence of but also contemporary accounts going up to the 1930s.
There were no
laws protecting badgers so how was it that the species survived when
melecide, like felicide and vulpicide were a daily thing? It always
puzzled me and I even looked at the possibility of badgers being
imported but so far have come up with no records of this. In fact,
the reason why badgers survived I came across quite by accident in
2022 while scouring newspaper archives for Old fox and Old wild cat
reports.
Fox hunting,
which wiped out the three original Old British fox types and wild
cats and also introduced mange to the UK...saved badgers.
The
Field
- Saturday 15 January 1898 badgers to clean fox dens
“As to mange, it
is certainly very rare in the west country, which may be due to the
number of badgers who keep the earths clean.”
The fact that
badgers shared setts with foxes in some parts we know of from old
accounts as there is even a story of a fox darting into a badger sett
when hunted and the badger fought the foxes sent down to get it.
Having spoiled the hunt’s ‘fun’ badger and fox were killed.
Ignoring the silly theory as to how mange starts this 1898 item hints
at badgers imported into fox hunt territories to keep fox dens clean
going back a good way.
I llustrated
Sporting and Dramatic News - Saturday 24 April 1897
The above 1897
article shows that badgers were being caught and sent to areas to
prevent mange outbreaks and mainly into woodland where they would
establish territories last into the 21st century.
Hampshire
Advertiser - Saturday 27 August 1932
There is no
exact location given for the “Island” but Hampshire has Hayling
Island or next over the Isle of Wight. The interesting fact here is
that it is noted that badgers were again imported but I suspect far
from being there to exterminate wasps that the reason was, again,
mange control. Although hunts did everything openly amongst “their
own” when it came to the press rather than be blamed for a
‘problem’ (ie importing badgers to make foxes healthier to hunt)
some other reason was always created.
It is possible,
based on the various news snippets and hints by ‘sportsmen’ that
the practice of importing badgers into fox hunting territories went
back to at least the mid 1850s. And yet, as we note in the 1932 item,
a “bit of sport” hunting badgers was still going on. How they
became a “plague” of badgers is difficult to see but Australia
uses the same term today for any animal it wants to kill off -they
are always “a plague of”.
In the UK
badgers are supposedly a protected species: 1973
CHAPTER 57. An
Act to prohibit, save as permitted under this Act, the taking,
injuring or killing of badgers.
C3By Criminal Justice Act 1991 (c. 53, SIF 39:1), s.
Also
Badgers and badger setts (burrows) are
protected under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992, in England and
Wales.
Badgers
survived everything over the centuries and only returned to some
areas as part of anti mange action. Protection did not last long as
some very flawed ‘science’ quickly made them the scapegoat
species (as recognised by other countries) for Bovine TB. In fact
from the very outset naturalists were pointing out that bad animal
husbandry was to blame for outbreaks; other countries recognised that
badgers were not the main source of bTB and any number of wild
animals can carry it.
Most
people know that from 1977 on (still occasionally) I am an exotics
wildlife consultant for UK police forces. In that capacity I had to
talk to shooters and game keepers in order to complete reports.
It was via the
conversations that I learn all the ins-and-outs of night time
shooting. It was also from all of this that made me warn, in the
1990s, that the UK fox population was in decline -in some areas foxes
had not been seen for 6-9 months and once any turning up were killed
....no more. I asked how they were making their money then? "Oh,
no foxes the rabbit population booms and farmers don't want that so
we shoot a ton of them and present them to the farmer who can see
we've done our job and we get paid."
I also heard of
farmers and estate owners paying "good money to snuff badgers"
To which was added "on the quiet though". Now why, if these
people knew I worked with police forces would they tell me this?
Because they knew private land and no evidence and no one really
interested in investigating meant it was all done scot free. There
are things that I have heard and been told that concern me.
We are always
given the number of 250,000 badgers having been killed in culls and
after so many years I doubt that figure. Shooters brag about the cull
payments having helped purchase houses and expensive lifestyles.
DEFRA:
"1.3 Costs and
benefits of extending the current approach to a further 11 intensive
culling areas
"Each new cull
area is expected to deliver net benefits of between -£0.49 million
and -£0.04 million per area, with a central estimate of
approximately -£0.16 million. This includes costs accrued over 4
years of culling and benefits accrued over 11 years in line with
results from the Randomised Badger Control Trial (RBCT).
"The
future costs to UK government are estimated at £0.33 million per
area over 4 years.
"Previous
versions of the VfM analysis included costs incurred by farmers who
are prepared to use their own money to fund culls. These have not
been available for this and the previous version of the VfM analysis
and are therefore excluded.
"The total
monetised benefits are estimated to be around £0.01 million and
£0.29 million per area over eleven years, with a central estimate of
£0.16 million. This is based on the results of the RBCT."
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bovine-tb-badger-control-policy-value-for-money-analysis/badger-control-policy-value-for-money-analysis-2022
They like to say
benefits and give percentages to hide things as officials always do.
How much does bovine TB cost the government?
"bTB
eradication costs UK taxpayers around £150 million per annum, with
additional costs falling to the cattle industry. More information can
be found at TB hub - Bovine TB Advice & Tuberculosis Information
for Cattle Farmers."
https://aphascience.blog.gov.uk/2023/03/24/tb-day-2023/
One shooter bemoaned
the fact that "You get nothing for the nippers (cubs)"
Badgers in the UK
are recognised by zoologists across Europe and elsewhere as
"scapegoat species". Protected in 1973 and not long after
"kill them!" So people are making good money and there is
very limited financial burden on the farmer. Remember that badger
clans that have been monitored for years with no sign of TB in tests
and nowhere near cattle were also slaughtered.
The figure of
250,000 does not include many cubs -bodies are bagged up and disposed
of. Watching the talk online and hearing back from other interested
parties I was told by one that "People don't care. The badger
huggers would s*** a brick -250k is a laugh!"
So how many
seems to be a likely number?
300,000
Which is well
over half the badger population in the UK and we have no idea how
many cubs because "they don't count". If we consider that
an estimated 100,000 die on UK roads then it can be seen that the UK
badger population is on its way to extinction -which it avoided after
centuries of hunting. Yes, hunting never killed off badgers when they
were not protected but as a protected species they are being openly
slaughtered.
Now
we know that the UK government and politicians in voting farmers
pockets have declared badgers are to be eradicated (exterminated)
from large areas of England. Former
UK Prime Minister R. Sunak actually declared that he wanted badgers
eradicated.
Many
voters desperate to see the environment and wildlife, and
particularly badgers, saved took the solemn promise of Labour Party
leader Keir Starmer and Steve Reed MP and the Labour Party Manifesto
that the badger cull was unscientific and would be stopped and
alternatives to tackling bTB would be used. Worryingly both Starmer
and Reed were smiling and hand-shaking farmers prior to the 2024
General Election. However, their word was in print.
Since
the Labour Party was voted into power it, Starmer and Reed have
flatly refused to even discuss the badger cull with their voters and
even some of their MPs are unhappy with the silence.
When
would Labours “unbreakable” Manifesto promise to stop the culls
come into force?
Secretary
of State for the Environment, Steve Reed MP (Shadow Secretary when he
and Starmer made the promise), stated, “we're not
going to end any of the existing licences, let me be clear on that.
We don't want to send sudden shocks into the system.”
Now,
just weeks later, it has been revealed that this Labour government
has declared its Manifesto promises that got it voted in were simple
lies and many suspect that a deal was made with farmers prior to the
election. DEFRA is preparing to approve a new Badger cull in Cumbria
by issuing yet another culling licence.
We are seeing
foxes heading for extinction (again) and badgers along with them. Are
the "animal loving British public" seriously just going to
sit there and let two more species go extinct like others also on the
verge?
Yes.
I
called the UK "The Blood Red Island" because it has seen
species -birds, mammals, fish- all go extinct and even those brought
to the UK to 'reintroduce' the species are being killed off. The
Labour Government has to now be seen as pro hunt government;
fishing for votes and more has led our wildlife to extinction road
and they don't care because they are only in it for the political
power and money.
Where
are the protests ? Those
that are being organised will need every person who really cares
about the environment and wildlife conservation to attend if they
can. Write to your MP and do not take “Oh, we’ll look into that”
as a brush off. Demand that Labour fulfill its promises rather than
betray its voters. Email DEFRA to Protest. Email Natural England and
protest against the cull. Be a pain in the ass and email daily.
We
are now fighting to save the badger an all other endangered species
and if we let Starmer and Reed win then by the 2030s badgers and
foxes will be extinct except for some urban populations. What happens
when they decide to cull town and City badgers on your doorstep?
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