New homes for badgers
8th August 2003 - BBC News
Artificial
setts have been built to re-house a group of badgers which were
under threat of being culled.
About 10 months ago the Department for Environment, Food and
Rural Affairs (DEFRA) issued a licence to kill up to 16 badgers in Saltdean,
East Sussex.
But the animals were granted a reprieve after protestors staged
vigils outside the houses where the badger setts were.
Work is due to start later this month to relocate the animals to
two artificial setts.
DEFRA officials said on Friday the setts had been established in
the gardens of volunteers in Saltdean, close to the existing problem
site.
The badgers will be encouraged to use their new homes by feeding
them there.
The gardens with the problem sett will then be surrounded by a
permanent badger-proof fence and any badgers still inside will be
trapped and moved.
A DEFRA spokesman said the animals would be examined by a vet
before they were released into their new setts, which will be
monitored by video cameras.
Animal health minister Ben Bradshaw said: "It is to the credit of
all those involved, including the householders, that we are able to
take this forward."
The old sett will be filled in and the garden made unattractive
to badgers by removing undergrowth.
Problems with the creatures first started in the 1980s after it
was claimed they were causing damage in the area.
For more information, please click the following link:
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