Understanding the population health of badgers in England and Wales
The exact number of badgers in Britain is unknown, and there is an urgent need to understand the population health of Britain's largest remaining carnivore. In 2023, Badger Trust launched the 'State of the Badger' project to look into methods to assess current population trends for badgers in England and Wales.
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While there is much analysis on badger behaviour, up-to-date and accurate data about influences on badger population levels is lacking, especially after a decade of culling, uncertain impact of road collisions, high rates of badger crime, and increasing pressure from planning and development.
Badger in sunshine © Andy Parkinson
State of the Badger Project
The aim of the project was to produce a comprehensive report to answers some of the questions regarding badger population, threats, and recovery. The report will be used to assess the best ways to estimate badger density and distribution, historical and current population changes, and data on other sources of badger mortality.
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Crucially, this project helped to raise awareness of the plight of badgers in England and Wales through an expanded volunteer network and educational engagement with the wider public. Badger Trust achieved this by working with a broad network of volunteers, colleges and universities, wildlife and environmental NGOs, and scientific advisors.
Why survey badgers?
The European badger (Meles meles) is listed as “least concern” by the IUCN. The IUCN assessment of Meles meles is a habitat level analysis, covering the whole range of the Eurasian badger and not specific to Great Britain, where significant threats are present.
Overall, few studies exist that provide contemporary population estimates for European badgers in Britain, and none specific to key counties of interest (e.g. counties impacted by badger culling and heightened rates of planning and development and wildlife crime).
Although badgers are among the most legally protected British wildlife (as listed in Appendix III Of the Bern Convention and safeguarded by the Protection of Badgers Act 1992), badgers are recognised as one of the most persecuted British wildlife species. From rising rates of badger crime to a decade of the controversial badger cull and increasing rates of housing and road development, badger populations continue to be threatened.
According to Defra, in 2021, the kill target (the number of badgers to be shot in each cull zone) was reduced part-way through culling in 34 of 38 intensive cull zones, indicating that not enough badgers were found in these areas. Furthermore, the Wildlife Crime Report 2021 confirmed badger crime remains a significant threat to badgers. However, badger crimes are not notifiable offences. So, whilst the actual impact of illegal activities upon badger populations is unknown, the rate of criminal activities is expected to be much higher than those cited.
Furthermore, at least 50,000 badgers were estimated to be killed annually on British roads in 1992 - however, this figure likely to be much higher now with increased traffic.
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Without quantifying the extent to which badger populations are affected by culling, crime and development, it is impossible to guarantee the conservation of Britain's most iconic native species. Nor is it possible, without evidence of regional population numbers, for the Government to substantiate claims of an initial 70% cull rate of badgers and a maintained 30% thereafter.
Hence, the State of the Badger survey aims to assess the current population trends in European badgers across England and Wales to determine the current health of badger populations and to predict future trends in regional numbers.
The State of the Badger pilot study ran from February 2023 until June 2024 and has been kindly funded by the John Spedan Lewis Foundation.
State of the Badger pilot study
In 2022, Badger Trust received funding from the John Spedan Lewis Foundation to conduct an initial pilot study.
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With this funding, Badger Trust conducted a comprehensive pilot investigation to examine and test methods needed for a full population survey across England and Wales. The primary aim of the pilot phase was to test the proposed methods across several small subsets of England, allowing researchers to evaluate the robustness of the methods applied, solidify key aims and objectives, and identify areas for improvement in the subsequent national survey.
Between Autumn 2023 to Spring 2024, a pilot study was conducted across four English counties. This pilot study provided an invaluable opportunity to evaluate the logistics of different aspects of the study, including data collection methods, data management processes, land access issues, and volunteer recruitment, in addition to yielding feedback on training procedures and resources.
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The results of the State of the Badger Pilot Project are available using the link below. If you would like to know more about the State of the Badger Pilot Project, you can email us at hello@badgertrust.org.uk
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This initial phase of the project was conducted with the help of our Scientific Working Group (including experts from Scottish Badgers, Born Free and the Mammal Society) and volunteers from Badger Groups located in survey locations. ​
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