The last member of the old Avon Badger Group which folded circa 1992 has stated that they will not share badger data from that group (BRERC says it doesn't have any of it but I suspect that is incorrect).
"I am proud to say I will take that information to the grave with me"
How on Earth can with holding information that can help conserve/protect badgers not be shared? I worked with UK police forces from 1977-2018 and I am what they ego boostingly (at times I wish I had an ego!) call a "noted naturalist"
As it stands I have, over 30+ years noted over 5o badger sett/sighting locations in Bristol itself and there is one thing that I do know: there are far more.
I get told of badgers that visit gardens but ask where the sett is and...silence. I accidentally hear of new sites (2 in this past three days) and I believe that if I added those sites we would be up to 60 badger territories. I have no objection to people keeping badger setts secret and encourage that but when a badger needs help or setts are threatened it is very useful to kick back at developers etc and say "No. Historical badger territory".
It gets to be very annoying when people contact me and say "We've had badgers here 30 years, they were here when we moved in but now we are thinking of moving on..." then it is all "Will they be safe -how can we make sure they are protected?" Oh, so I wasn't worth contacting until then (nothing unusual there!).
The simple answer is:
" estate agents are legally required to disclose the presence of badgers (or a badger sett) to potential buyers if they are aware of them, as this is considered "material information". "
I do need volunteers with badger experience who can go and check locations or carry out a quick survey of an area where badgers are believed to live.
Badgers that need treatment we have access to vets etc so calling on the Somerset group who do not tell us they are coming to Bristol, what they treated a badger for etc should not happen.
I can be contacted 7 days a week by FB messenger and the details for fox/badger rescue or treatment is posted on the group.
It would be nice to have post mortems carried out on badgers but certain agencies are preventing that.
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