Badger Trust Targets Cyber-Enabled Badger Crime
- Badger Trust Staff Team
- Jul 13, 2022
- 6 min read
How Badger Trust is raising awareness of online badger crime and how you can report it.
Badger Trust is aware of the increasing rates of badger crime being shared online, as criminal gangs use the internet to recruit and organise badger baiting and to share violent footage of badger cruelty.
Ongoing research by Badger Trust has revealed a number of social media sites where badger crime is freely shared with public audiences, and a recent spate of successful prosecutions used footage shared to private social media groups as evidence. It is clear the internet is facilitating badger persecution, a phenomenon encapsulated by the term ‘cyber-enabled wildlife crime’, which covers the illegal trade, sale or bloodsport enabled through online networking.
Rising rates of badger persecution and cyber-enabled wildlife crime
According to the National Wildlife Crime Report 2020, badger crime rose by 36% between 2019 and 2020, findings echoed by Badger Trust’s badger crime report statistics.
Although both badger persecution and cyber-enabled wildlife crime are listed as wildlife crime priorities by the UK’s National Wildlife Crime Unit, until recently, there has been little attention given to the link between these criminal activities.
According to new research by Ofcom, UK adults now spend on average one-quarter of their waking day online, a record high, and social media sites such as TikTok are becoming extremely popular amongst younger audiences. With internet use increasing substantially since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, more and more children and young people are being exposed to badger crime on online platforms.
Campaigning to protect badgers and people online
As part of Badger Trust’s campaign to stop badger crime, Badger Trust submitted a briefing to the Parliamentary Committee reviewing the Bill, proposing it should also include animal cruelty and wildlife crime as both illegal and harmful content. The Bill, proposed earlier this year, aims to safeguard vulnerable internet users (particularly children and young people) to better protect them from illegal and harmful content shared online. Yet the proposal did not include animal cruelty.
Badger Trust’s briefing successfully achieved a specific mention of badger baiting in the Committee debate about the rising trend in wildlife crime appearing in online spaces and the dangers this brings to internet users. So far, the Bill has not included wildlife crime, so the campaign continues, as does Badger Trust’s research into this emerging issue.
Campaigning to protect badgers in nature: PBA30
One of the primary objectives of Badger Trust’s PBA30 campaign is for the government to increase the sentencing under the Protection of Badgers Act (1992) from six months to five years, bringing it in line with the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021. This will make the law a more effective deterrent.
Without effective legislation, badgers will continue to be cruelly and unfairly targeted by criminals. And it is only fair that if a badger baiter harms a dog or a badger, both crimes must be punishable by the same five-year prison sentence.
Highlighting emerging voices in the campaign to Stop Badger Crime
Badger persecution crime impacts society in numerous ways. As shown by Badger Trust’s ongoing research into cyber-enabled badger persecution, malicious crime against badgers is frequently shared online with younger audiences. Sharing violence against wildlife not only normalises animal cruelty but it exposes young people to harmful content. Perpetrators of animal cruelty are more likely to go on to commit crimes against humans. Given that young people are impacted by badger crime, it is particularly important that younger voices are highlighted in the campaign to Stop Badger Crime.
Badger Trust was encouraged to see that this year, students from The University of South Wales worked with Rob Taylor, Wales Rural and Wildlife Crime Coordinator, to explore the issue of badger baiting, a UK wildlife crime priority. The students created two powerful short films about badger baiting, the first from the badger’s point of view, the second from the dog’s, both of whom are victims of cruelty.
A film about badger baiting – from a badger's point of view
Warning this film contains distressing images
A film about badger baiting – from a dog's point of view
Warning this film contains distressing images
Rob Taylor explained: “It is vital that we engage our younger generations with regards to wildlife crime and in particular badger offences.
Our younger generation can really make a difference, change opinion and of course carry the baton to preserve our wildlife going far into future years.
Their talents cannot be overlooked and these films demonstrate their ability to present messages from a whole new positive angle”.
Rob later presented the students with limited edition wildlife coins in recognition of their contribution to the campaign to Stop Badger Crime. Badger Trust commends them for their creative and impactful approach to such a harrowing and cruel sport.
Raising awareness to stop badger crime
A recent YouGov poll revealed that 64% of British adults were either unaware or unsure that badgers were protected by law. The limited sentencing does little to set a precedence that badger persecution is a crime that is taken seriously. The lack of regulation in online spaces further portrays a false message to the public that badger cruelty is a permitted activity. Peter Hambly, Executive Director of Badger Trust, speaking of the rising use of the internet to facilitate and promote badger persecution crimes, said:
“It is sickening that people want to hurt badgers and film themselves doing it. Unfortunately, the rise in social media platforms means they can share this content very easily, and many people become exposed to horrific crimes.
“We need tougher sentencing to deter crimes and help the police put more resources into catching people. We also need animals, including badgers, to be part of the Online Safety Bill, so social media platforms have to take this illegal content down as soon as possible. Badgers need more protection, and they need it now.”
Three steps to Stop Badger Crime online
Badger Trust has created a range of resources to help the public to Recognise, Record, and Report badger crime, and to raise awareness of the legal protection afforded to Britain’s most iconic native species.
Badger Trust encourages internet users who witness badger persecution online to remember the Three Rs: Recognise, Record and Report and says, Don’t repost it, Report it.
1. Recognise
The first step in protecting badgers from persecution is to recognise signs of badger persecution.
The following examples are key indicators that footage shared online shows illegal activities related to badgers:
Blocking or obstructing sett entrances (e.g. with soil or other debris)
Damage to tunnels or chambers (dogs entering a sett, people digging into the sett with shovels)
Dogs chasing or fighting badgers
Person/s holding, chasing or posing with injured or dead badgers
2. Record
The second step is to record evidence that badger persecution has been shared online:
Screenshot evidence of the post and save it securely
Never engage with the content witnessed because every share, comment, and like makes the content more popular
Criminals favour the internet due to how easily accounts can be deleted and re-created. However, their photographs and videos can be used in court, so evidence must be collected carefully.
3. Report
Now that the crime has been recognised and recorded, the final step is to report it. There are two fundamental parts to reporting badger persecution you see online:
Report the crime with the social media platform it was shared to (so the platform can remove the content and suspend the account)
Report the crime to Badger Trust (for the crime to be recorded as part of national badger crime statistics).
Protection of Badgers Act 30 years – Act For Badgers
The 16th of July 2022 marks the 30th anniversary of the Protection of Badgers Act (1992), the landmark legislation which made it illegal to interfere with badgers and their setts, be it through negligence or malicious acts such as badger baiting, shooting, sett blocking, or snaring. Thirty years on, however, the British social and political landscape is changing.
Sentencing under the Protection of Badgers Act needs to be updated to better reflect the advances made to animal welfare law and the increasing threats that badgers face. Amendments to the Animal Welfare Act in 2021 increased the sentencing for cruelty to domestic animals to five years in prison. Yet, to harm or kill a badger remains punishable by a maximum of only six months in prison. This glaring species inequality is enshrined into law without scientific or ethical justification.
How you can Act for Badgers
You can join our PBA30 campaign and add your voice to our call for better protection for badgers. We’ve written to the Defra Secretary of State, Rt Hon George Eustice MP, to ask him to extend sentencing for badger crime. This would mean sentences for crimes such as badger baiting and shooting would present a real deterrent to badger abusers.
You can write to the Secretary of State and your MP too. The more letters they receive, the more chance we have of bringing about change, and as quickly as possible.
Download and display our Stop Badger Crime campaign posters
Badger Trust Protect Both: A4 poster
Badger Trust Remember the 3 Rs: A4 poster
How to report Badger Crime: A4 poster
More ways you can get involved and make a difference to badgers
Share this article on your social media with the hashtags #PBA30 and #StopBadgerCrime
Join our clan and help protect badgers by becoming a Badger Trust supporter
Get involved with your local Badger Group and make a difference to badgers near you
Visit the Brock shop for badger-themed gifts – 100% of the profits go back to our campaign work for badgers and your purchase helps spread badgery joy
