3
Badgers - Maligned and In Decline?
The Countryside Act 1981 has given badgers more protection:
they are now protected under most circumstances even against
the landowner. But they need it - Bovine T.B. has given
them a bad name amoungst cattle farmers in the West Country.
Fortunately Essex farms are mostly arable and no case of
Bovine T.B. is known in East Anglia. Some people still
question whether badgers are the link between T.B. and
cattle in the wild but I think they probably are: if you
want to read a good summary of the arguments for and
against, I can recommend a publication by Robert W, Howard
of Avon Wildlife Trust, called "Badgers without Bias".
He is a practicing vet and his booklet gives an objective
look at the controversy in an admirable unemotional style.
It can be obtained for £1.50 from the Trust at 209 Redland
Road, Bristol.
But are they in decline in Essex? Yes, I think so.
Fifteen years ago, it was easy to find as active sett in
West or Central Essex to watch. You could go into
Epping Forest, Hainault Forrest or South Weald Park which
are all public open spaces with nice strong setts if you
knew where to look. Today none of these areas have any
active setts to my knowledge, and they have gone from
most of the private land around as well. The setts are
still there but they are unused and unvisited. Strangely
it is West Essex that seems to show most change; even up
to Saffron Waldon most of the old setts are inactive. But
in the East the position seems brighter. Basildon and
Westley Heights still have their badgers. In Benfleet,
outside Southend, they are reportedly as active as ever
and there are a good number of setts active around
Danbury. But come to the West of Chelmsford, to High
Woods near Ingatestone and they seem to have all died out.
Over the next 12 months or so, we hope to check in detail
some sample areas, mostly in the West, to see if this
general impression is correct. If you know of an active
sett in your area, or even a dead one, please let me know.