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Out of the Woods for Badger Numbers

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New Scientist - 23 August 1997

By Stephanie Pain

Badgers, persecuted to near extinction in many parts of Britain, have made a remarkable recovery over the past nine years. A survey carried out between October 1994 and January 1997 shows a 77 per cent increase in the number of badgers since a similar survey in the 1980s.

"The recovery is almost certainly due to much lower levels of persecution," says Steve Harris, a mammal specialist at the University of Bristol. But there are already signs that the soaring numbers could trigger a backlash from farmers worried about the threat to their cattle from TB, a disease that infects both species. And the best badger habitat seems to be shrinking rapidly, which could limit further recovery.

For the survey, an army of volunteers and professional biologists covered 2578 1-kilometre squares of countryside, 93 per cent of them the same as in the earlier study. A report of the survey, by Harris and his colleagues Gavin Wilson and Graeme McLaren, is published this week by the People's Trust for Endangered Species.

Although the number of badgers has increased dramatically, the species is only slowly moving into new areas. "A group has to reach a certain size before you get dispersal into new areas and most still haven't reached that size," says Harris. Nevertheless, there are now around 50 000 groups of badgers, an increase of 24 per cent since the 1980s.

The extent of the recovery varies from region to region (see Map). The largest increase is in the West Midlands, where the number of badger groups rose by 86 per cent. In northern England and southern Scotland, where persecution is still rife, there is little sign of recovery and even a decline in some places.

Recovery is almost wholly a result of the reduction in snaring, shooting and digging. The tough penalties for killing badgers since the Protection of Badgers Act of 1992 have been an effective deterrent in many regions, but not all. "In northern England we found that 25 per cent of breeding setts were dug," says Harris. Fox hunts also continue to block the entrances to setts to prevent foxes going to ground.

A simple computer model of population growth shows that the increase can be explained by the survival of one more adult badger per group rather than increased fertility, which supports the idea that long-term persecution had kept badger numbers down. "A small change in mortality leads to a big increase in population," says Harris.

Not all the news is good. The survey reveals that the number of kilometre squares considered ideal for badgers has declined. In the earlier survey, 39 per cent of squares were rich enough in different habitat features to constitute "good" badger country. This time, the proportion has fallen to 31 per cent. "The countryside is getting poorer and if it carries on like this we will start to see a decline in numbers again," says Harris.

The new badger-friendliness of farmers may also be short-lived. According to the report, local badger conservation groups are finding that attitudes are hardening again. Although there is circumstantial evidence that badgers can transmit TB to cattle, no one knows exactly how. A panel chaired by John Krebs, head of the Natural Environment Research Council, will advise the government on the issue of badgers and TB this autumn.

Brian Jennings, chairman of the Animal Health and Welfare Committee of the National Farmers Union, denies that farmers are anti-badger, but he considered the size of the increase in the West Midlands "bad news". "Where there is a suspicion that the population is becoming too big for the habitat, farmers should be allowed to apply for a reduction licence," says Jennings.

Research by the Ministry of Agriculture in Gloucestershire suggests that the badger boom will not lead to a spread of TB. The study, at Woodchester Park, which has the highest density of badgers in the country, has shown there is no link between the density of the animals and the level of TB infection (Journal of Zoology, vol 242, p 705).

The survey has also shown that the badger of The Wind in the Willows, a secretive woodland animal, is a myth. Badgers have simply taken refuge for most of this century in places where people couldn't get at them. "If the habitat is there, they will colonise it, says Harris. Once you stop hammering them they'll live in lots of places."

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