Foxes and Badgers...numbers mount up

 

Yesterday I announced that the number of KNOWN dead foxes reported in Bristol stood at 300 (the highest figure recorded in recent years). This morning I added 4 more to that number.

Badgers deaths (known) now totals 76.

Thankfully I do not record every species killed on the roads though I can add one otter into the mix.

If these deaths were all related to pet dogs being killed by speeding cars that do not even stop to check if the animal is dead or report hitting them so someone can check -there would be a public outcry. The fact that there isn't is what helps the Bristol City (Green Party run) Council and South Gloucestershire ignore things....and those biscuits and cups of tea take a lot of concentration.

This is Bristol so if we have lost a (known) 304 what are the losses like elsewhere. Some idiot at The Guardian writes that there is a fictional boom in the fox population while those in the know believe we have lost 60-65% of the UK fox population.

With new government regulations for development that it wants to push through Parliament badger protection (such as it is) will be gone. Badgers have lost over 50% of their population.

By the 2030s foxes, badgers and hedgehogs will be a rare sight -where thjey have not become extinct.

Bristol City Council (a GREEN Party Council) Should Hang Its Head In Shame

 

 We have no idea how many badgers have actually died in Bristol this year but the register says 75.

I can tell you that the current number of KNOWN dead foxes this year in Bristol just hit 300. The real total I do not want to think about.

Bristol City Council (GREEN party) has made it clear that they do not care about wildlife death or tackling it. South Gloucestershire Council simply shrug in silence.

I have done everything one person can do and at this rate I expect to see the kn own total hit 400 by end of year.

Longmoor Development and impact on Badgers and Otters Update 27 09 2025

 When Parish and City Council elections crop up again it is well worth remembering that on this matter not one of those contacted has even responded. Developers money obviously shuts up integrity.

It is also worth noting that none of the local wildlife groups has responded or shown interest.

The loss of habitat and wildlife is, it seems, what 96% of councillors and people in Bristol want to see disappear under more building.

As one person I have done everything I can and add that the Badger Trust were very unhelpful.

Emails to BCC:

"Councillor Martin Fodor" <cllr.martin.fodor@bristol.gov.uk>; "Councillor Heather Mack" <cllr.heather.mack@bristol.gov.uk>; "Councillor Ed Plowden" <cllr.ed.plowden@bristol.gov.uk>; "Councillor Tony Dyer" <cllr.tony.dyer@bristol.gov.uk>; "Councillor Carla Denyer" <cllr.carla.denyer@bristol.gov.uk>

To Long Ashton Parish Councillors:

"cllr.mharris@longashtonparishcouncil.gov.uk"

"cllr.james@longashtonparishcouncil.gov.uk"

"cllr.abarrett@longashtonparishcouncil.gov.uk

"cllr.jfenton@longashtonparishcouncil.gov.uk"

"cllr.dwilkinson@longashtonparishcouncil.gov.uk"

email

Hello.

My name is Terry Hooper and I am a naturalist/mammalogist living in Bristol and I set up the Bristol Badger Group in 1994 after the old Avon Badger Group went defunct.

I have previously emailed developers involved in the Longmoor development as well as Bristol City Council and other parties involved. I have had absolutely no responses despite the matter being of great concern.

Badgers in England are, for various reasons, recognised as heading for extinction. Every sett and badger is vital in keep the local population safe before we lose them. I record badger deaths in the Bristol area and since the 1970s have noted badger deaths in and around Long Ashton.

Badgers are seen in the area still and have active setts.

Wessex Ecological Consultancy produced a report Yanley Quarry and Landfill Extension and Yanley Park Estate Ecological Survey and Report for Terry Adams ltd, March, 1997.

This was forwarded to me by Terry Adams as I was asked to be the wildlife consultant and to help create wildlife features in what would have been a park. It was noted that Long Ashton had badger setts and signs of badger activity. This is part of the official report which was submitted to Terry Adams Ltd, Long Ashton Parish Council and Bristol City Council.

There are bat sites around the area in question and we are fully aware of otters also being in the area Colliters Brook) so there is not just risk of disturbing badgers and any heavy building work collapsing badger setts but also of possible accidental pollution spill into the ground and stream.

I would like to know what, if anything, Long Ashton Parish council has done to mark and preserve the setts and protect the badgers and otters (both protected species)? I will forward a copy of this email to BCC also and any serious responses or advice on what has been done would be appreciated. I attach an email from someone who has raised objections and which was forwarded to myself.

I look forward to your responses.

Regards

Terry Hooper

Bristol Badger Group / UK National Carnivore Advisory

Bristol City Council and Developers Destroy More Badger Setts

 This would be the "new suburb" Longmoor development -the area is known for badgers in surveys dating back to the 1990s.

I have tried BCC who just put up a wall of silence and I have even tried on groups or contact people involved but no one is interested. So more badgers gone.

Eastville Park and How No One Wants To Stop Sale To Developers

 

With regard the Eastville Park land grab I can report that all of those named in the post never responded -apart from BRERC who then got a tad narky over absolutely nothing. Not even the Friends of Eastville Park have responded.   

As I have always found with Bristol the City Council and public always shouts about how green it is and how it is fighting the current ecological emergency.... there is no interest. Guzzling pizzas and watching TV while the money "floats around" is all you get. That and complete and utter silence.

Bristol City Council (supposedly Green) and the people of Bristol...look up the phrase "hang your heads in shame"

Wildlife in the UK is a Lost Cause

 

 I have written before that despite what people and organisations say the UK is definitely NOT wildlife friendly. Ignoring the official suppression of the Bristol Fox Deaths Study I have to say that in 10 years not one wildlife group in Bristol has cooperated or helped in the badger/fox/otter work  Apart from photo opps and social media "Likes" badgers, foxes and even deer are not looked on with any regard. Pretty flowers, birds and "drinks evenings" are far more important than those "nasty little mammals"

In a post yesterday I referred to concerns regarding development of a site in Eastville Park, Bristol. I asked on the Face Book group Friends of Eastville Park whether anyone was protesting the proposed £400k sell off since the park is an established wildlife haven in an over developed area and has always been a place of peace and relaxation. No response. That didn't surprise me since the group refused to cooperate on badger deaths in the park and would not hand over a mysterious blue substance for analysis a couple years back.

My post yesterday included the email addresses I sent my concerns to in order that everything affecting wildlife and the environment is open to public view. A link was sent to the Park group -no responses.  However, a person addressed (on the Bristol Naturalist Society FB page)  my showing the Bristol Regional Environmental Records Centre response -which was neither confidential nor revealing anything not known over much of Bristol and far more is available online. The reply was NOT for public view or social media posting I was told./ I had no idea who the person was but explained that I do not hide anything unless I am requested to keep something confidential (in 50 years I have NEVER breached a confidentiality).

To make sure I emailed the BRERC person who responded to my email and apologised if I did not make the email clear (I did but I prefer to be polite anyway) and that nothing written in her reply was anything unknown to people in Bristol.  This morning I received an email from the person who tried to embarrass me on the FB group (which, incidentally sparked some nasty messages from other members to me) and NOW (in private) identifies himself as the manager of BRERC I read that and no further. If there was any problem -and he I assume deliberately blew a rather very brief and innocuous  email posted out of all proportion- then he should have messaged me privately, identified himself and discussed why HE found the reply so upsetting.

I need to point out that not one other person has responded to the post which says a great deal about people on social media "naturalist" groups. As I have noted before, from 1977 until semi retirement in 2018 I was on the Partners Against Wildlife Crime advisory and an exotics (and wildlife in general) consultant to UK police forces. 50 years of my adult life have been spent as a naturalist in the field as well as researcher and archivist and I am known by local authorities as an "annoying conservationist".  Despite that and my wildlife books BRERC has refused me access to badger records -which the surviving member of the old Avon Badger Group stated I had permission to ask for.

Based on their behaviour I can tell you now that BRERC will get no records from myself. It all seems to be one way with these bodies -BRERC had no interest in my Badger and Fox Deaths Registers nor the Fox Death Study and never responded to requests to submit any reports of dead foxes and badgers.

In every attempt to try to develop on badger setts in the last ten years, barring one person who I fed all the legalise to so that he could contact the developer in question, not one single person offered to assist or help in any way. 

In my work I expect the threats because I know the type of people involved, what I do not expect after 50 years is to find nasty emails/messages or plain rudeness from supposed 'naturalists'.

As I have written before, the UK is involved in a wildlife and environmental war and we lost that war due to utter indifference. This Eastville Park situation shows how less people care these days thanks to the internet wildlife "fan club" mentality.

Eastville Park and Potential Damage To Existing Badger Setts

 This is what is being sent out today to all parties concerned or who should be concerned

This will be the last badger sett development case I work on. The total lack of support in these cases locally (barring one) involves a lot of time and stress,

Hello.

I am writing as a Bristolian as well as a naturalist/mammalogist regarding plans that have been forwarded to me re development on the Eastville Park site. As a child growing up in St Werburgh’s fine days were spent walking to the Park and enjoying activities there. From the 1960s on the Park has become even more important to people in Bristol as it is a green oasis surrounded by busy roads –which once you get into the Park you can ignore and enjoy the environment. Some of my first experiences with wildlife as a child were in the Park.

Eastville Park was established in 1889 when the Bristol City Council purchased land from Sir Greville Smyth to create a public park for working-class residents. Key features include a Victorian-designed ornamental lake and a bowling green, while historic elements like the Grade II listed boundary wall remain and it now includes a modern community garden.

I have attached links to the various items regarding the development (proposed or otherwise) and the site earmarked is close to badger setts.

Development near Badger Sett Eastville Park; as a guide, any work within 30m of an entrance to a badger sett (or 100m for pile driving and blasting work) could result in disturbance of a badger in the sett, or block or damage tunnels that radiate from the entrance to the sett.

According to the Badger Trust Guide for Developers

“Planning and development activities are some of the most common threats to badgers reported to Badger Trust. Over 50% of badger crimes reported relate to sett interference, and 20% of these are related to housing and development projects. Even if sett interference is accidental, any act (malicious or negligent)  which disturbs badgers and their setts is illegal under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992. Therefore, as a Developer, it is in your best interest to protect yourself by protecting local badgers.

“Badger Trust has created Guides for Developers, Ecologists and Planners, which are freely available. The document is designed to guide Developers through appropriate steps to protect badgers and their setts from development activities, with advice on legal responsibilities and badger harm mitigation strategies.

  “Badger Trust also encourages local councils to liaise with local Badger Groups who may offer advice and information on local badger populations.”

I have included a link to DEFRA and Badgers: protection and licences What you must do to avoid harming badgers and when you’ll need a licence.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/badgers-protection-surveys-and-licences

Badgers: protection and licences - GOV.UK What you must do to avoid harming badgers and when you’ll need a licence. www.gov.uk

Land for sale with planning permission right by the old swimming pool in Eastville Park.  There is still an active badger sett in the woods behind the old walled swimming pool.  Past conversations with people who frequently use the Park and watch wildlife suggests that the badger sett may run beneath the  old pool which is consistent with my own sightings pre 2019.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1CtaZrFkk4/

This is a direct link to the right move listing.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/166736504?utm_campaign=property-details&utm_content=commercial-buying&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=copytoclipboard#/&channel=COM_BUY

Check out this Plot for sale on Rightmove

Plot for sale in Development Site | BS5 for £400,000. Marketed by Hollis Morgan Auctions Bristol and West Country, Bristol

    We have so far lost over 300,000 badgers in the cull and Bristol each year loses 70+_ badgers on its roads as the Labour and current Green Party run City Council were made aware as I have discussed this with them as well as supplied copies of the Bristol Badger Deaths Registers which I maintain (if you require copies I can forward those). Disturbances could drive badgers on to the main roads around the Park or collapse sett tunnels. 

    The very idea of wanting to sell off parkland to a developer shows the most crass attitude towards not just the wildlife –mammal, bird or insect- but also the Green environment that Bristol City Council constantly declares itself proud of during “this ecological and environmental emergency”.  More it is a slap in the face of the public and residents who will not just have a construction site in the Park but will not find the peaceful haven they are used to and I am fully aware that many people with mental health issues visit the park because of the environment there which can be quite peaceful even on busy summer days.

    With so many Brown sites going to waste using a valuable Green space like Eastville Park sets a precedence that cannot be allowed to be unchallenged –the further development implications for a cash grab are obvious and what one currently run City Council promises can be disregarded in future; I have had first had experience of this over the last 30 years and so have many others.

    I would politely suggest that another (non Green Space) be considered for development and that Eastville Park, its badgers and other wildlife be left in peace.

Terry Hooper

Chair Bristol Wildlife Group/Bristol Badger Group

Some Notes

Please note that there are some existing setts currently under threat in the Bristol area and it is the City Council putting up land with nearby setts for cash grabbing.

While there aren't specific historical documents for badgers in Eastville village, Bristol, the area is noted for its modern-day badger presence, particularly in areas like Bennett's Patch and White's Paddock managed by the Avon Wildlife Trust. Badgers are generally found in Bristol where they've survived urban encroachment into formerly rural areas, and this likely includes Eastville, with 346 setts noted in a detailed survey of the broader Bristol area.

These nature reserves within or near Eastville are known to host badgers, highlighting the species' continued presence in the area's wildlife habitats.

Urban Badger Populations:

Research on badgers in Bristol indicates that urban populations often represent long-surviving groups in areas where they were once common, which suggests a historical presence that continues to the present day.

Habitat:

The presence of native woodland, wildlife ponds, and wildflower meadows in areas like Bennett's Patch provides suitable habitat for badgers, which are known to live there today.

To find more specific historical records, you might:

Consult Avon Wildlife Trust records:

They may have historical data on wildlife in the specific nature reserves within or near Eastville.

Check with the Bristol Record Office:

They may hold historical documents or maps that could provide more granular information about the local landscape and wildlife in Eastville's past.

Note: none of the above will give you locations of badgers. Running the Bristol Badger Group since 1994 after the Avon Badger Group folded and being a naturalist involved in conservation and wildlife protection for 50 years…well, even I am not allowed the information.

Look for information on Bristol's Urban Badger Society: Local wildlife groups focused on badgers might have historical information or community records related to the area. that would be Bristol Badger Group and you can contact them via Face Book or the Bristol Foxes and Badgers FB group.

I doubt that there are 346 setts in 2025 since the local authority and developers have quietly destroyed so many that the population has moved around.

But we do know where a lot of setts are and those locations are confidential.