Badger Post Mortems -We Need To KNOW Why A Badger Has Died (a lot of cover up going on)

 

The fella who used to run the Avon Badger Group (ceased 1993) used to carry out his own post mortem examinations on badgers and write up reports. BRERC tell us they returned all the files (to a dead man and requested after he died!). The last surviving member of the group has told me she will "proudly" take everything to the grave with her.

So everything up until I set up BBG in 1994 is lost (or hidden at a certain centre).

I trioed repeatedly to get dead badgers necropsied (PMs) from the Bristol area but was told that "badgers cannot be post mortem examined at the pathology lab due to H&S regulations" ('fear' of bTB).

That was an out and out lie because at the same timne I was told that badgers were being necropsied there. And since.

It was a fight to get the fox necropsies and we know that ended with my being threatened with legal action( and the pathologiost personbally got a solicitor to try to close down my publishing business!) if I dared issue the final report (as was agreed on).

Natural England, Bristol University Post Mortem Services, Langford Veterinary School and others were all sent copies of the threats and actions taken against me. It was all sent agin a couple weeks later. Not even a response which very strongly suggests they approved of what was being done.,

So I was barred from ever submitting any wildlife again -even if it was a possible corpse indicating a virus opr disease. They were looking at hedgehog deaths: I was forbidden from submitting the two I had found.

They did (Wildlife Incident Investigation Scheme) dance around the fact that three foxes killed by ingesting poison were down to Bristol City Council's rodenticides. But it was easy to find out.

In this type of atmosphere and institutioonalised attitude the likelihood of having badgers PM'd in the local area yet alone nationally is not likely.

Go ask the badger trust about PMs of suspicious death badgers and watch them stutter and blurt out all the copy and paste material they can find online -I asked repeatedly over the years. No idea where all their money goes.

We are literally fighting tooth and nail in this country for anything to do with surveying wildlife health -the situation is better even in Third World countries!

Dead (Known) Badger 077

 

077          Sunday 26 07 2926   27 Haviland Park, Bath BA1 4HR  Elderly male badger6kgs Chest trauma Pts rosemary Lodge vets bath

THIS Is What The UK Thinks of Wildlife

 THIS is the country we live in. A "nation of animal lovers" my ass.

Someone shot and killed a deer, fox, badger and some rabbits then threw them over a gate in Hambrook. They were caught on CCTV and police involved. I have been asked to be kept informed but wildlife crime seems to be treated as a waste of time. Every night men and women go out to shoot and kill for 'fun' and their FB groups call them "sportsmen/women".

Cats, sheep -boring night anything is a fair target. There is no reason why anyone in the UK should have a fire arm other for in enclosed shooting ranges for 'sport'

I have given up on the UK as the people in it seem set to want to kill anything wild.

Welsh Senedd Want To Cover Up Bad Farming Practices?

 Re the Welsh Senedd wanting to cull badgers now.

No, they killed off so many foxes in Wales that wildlife photographers have to come over to England to find some (that is a fact based on 50 years research)

Why not kill off all the badgers based on very bad science? The less wildlife the more houses can be built and then the farmers have nothing to blame for bad animal husbandry.

Taxidermists and Sealed Lips

 

Above a Victorian taxidermy by Rowland Ward

Here is something people need to realise.

Taxidermy is an odd hobby but without it we would have no idea what the Old types of British fox looked like.  When the bristol Fox Deaths Study was launched we would ask whether anyone could help collect and drop off. The carcasses vanished. After a while we learnt that taxidermists were reading the locations of dead foxes and goping out and grabbing them for their own use. Even though we explained the scientific importance of getting foxes that had seemingly died suspiciously, taxidermists quite literally told us where to go.

On one taxidermy group was a photo of a dead badger lying next to a car on what seemed to be a quiet country road. The poster asked whether any taxidemists were interested in buying? Someone said it would be grabbed quickly as badgers were hard to get a hold of. The person explained that 4-5 badgers a week "died on this road every every week". Now THAT is a ridiculous number. I asked what road it was as the local badger group might want to go out and check why so many were dying on the road and see what could be done. I was immediately banned from that group.

Someone on it later told me I was "booted off for asking questions". I learnt that there were fixed rates paid for anbimals and badgers "are worth a lot".  I stated that it was suspicious that so many died EVERY week. I was told "It's fine. Taxidermists are okay -the seller puts up a photo of the badger they are selling at the side of the road so it's bought as a legitimate road kill".

WHAT?!

I found similar on another taxidermy group. I asked (politely) for info and several members of the group told me to keep my nopse out of it....and I got banned.

Taxidermists are now grabbing all the shot and snared foxes they can despite the foxes declining as a specie (rare in Wales which is why photographers travel outside Wales to photograph them and even the RNIB after its mammal survey suggested foxes should be Red Listed). "Legitimately shot -no blood smears"

The person also seems to think the dead foxes can just be sent via the post. Here is the law regarding that:

No, general fresh or unpreserved dead animals are not allowed to be sent through the UK post, but specific exceptions exist for properly preserved biological specimens, dead collectable insects, or authorized veterinary samples.

£15 a fox.and despite what is written no legitimate reason to kill young foxes especially when there is species decline.

3-4 or 5-6 badgers being killed on a quiet country road at the exact same spot EVERY week/month is suspicious. The taxidermists will not report it so it can be investigated but if you see or hear of anything suspicious report it to the police and/or DEFRA as possible wildlife crime.

Badger 076 -Councils Do NOT Care

 South Gloucestershire Council has the same attitude toward wildlife as Bristol City Council. You do something that ends up killing wildlife "Who cares?"

076         Tuesday 14 07 2026 My friend described seeing a dead badger on the A38 near to Thornbury, she believes it was trying to cross the road but was blocked by huge barriers erected by the council while  they lay a new cycle path  She rang the council to complain, but was kept waiting so long she gave up

Poison Suspected? REPORT it!

 The same applies to badgers or any wilod animal

If you ever take a sick fox into a vet and it dies then let us know, If the vet says "It's been poiisoned" then tell them it is a possible wildlife crime and as its poison the fox needs to be submitted to the Wildlife Crimes Investigation Unit or, in Bristol, contact Bristol Uni Post Mortem Services and ask to submit the fox for post mortem examination (PME).

If the vet refuses here is what to bear in mind:

While a vet is generally bound by strict client confidentiality, the [Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons](https://www.rcvsknowledge.org/.../when-is-it-safe-to.../) (RCVS) explicitly allows them to bypass this rule and report concerns to the relevant authorities if they believe the wider public interest or animal welfare is severely compromised.

The illegal use of pesticides or poisons can be reported to the government's [Wildlife Incident Investigation Scheme](https://www.hse.gov.uk/.../wildlife-incident...) (WIIS) on 0800 321 600.

We have had seven vets in Bristol over the past few years who have told people "Its been poisoned" and in all cases the foxes were victims of car strike.

"Poison" -report and submit. NEVER EVER state an animal has been poisoned unless you have evidence as certain symptoms often quoted as evidence of poisoning can be related to other causes of death.

Thank you and good night Vienna.