Seasonal wish for badgers as setts sit empty for the first time in history

Badger Trust Staff Team
Dec 13, 2022
4 min read

Updated: Mar 1, 2023

Emotive message in new Badger Trust campaign film, which depicts badgers being washed away from Britain.

Badger Trust sand badger on sandy beach being washed away by incoming waves - our wish for badgers - can the cull

Emotive Christmas adverts are synonymous with the start of the British festive season, as audiences settle in and cosy up to the screen on long winter nights. In recent years, mainstream retailers have instilled a tradition of blending heartwarming family festivities and thought-provoking messages.

Animals are often featured, from stop-motion house cats to fantasy monsters looking to belong. Yet, animals are rarely the beneficiaries of these messages.

Badger Trust’s seasonal wish for badgers

This year, Badger Trust’s seasonal message completely focuses on the animal with its campaign Christmas wish – to end the controversial badger cull in England. Whilst the New Year is often a time of celebration, the charity expects to see the total number of killed badgers exceed 200,000 when the government releases cull figures in early 2023.

At this time of year, traditionally badgers would be snuggled with their clans in underground setts. There, they rest in a deep sleep-like state known as torpor. Yet, this year setts across England sit empty for the first time in history.

Badger Trust’s new campaign film starts by depicting the family-oriented social ties of badgers, the most iconic of Britain's last remaining native carnivores. With voices including Virginia McKenna, founder of Born Free, Naturalist Steve Backshall, and children discussing their love for badgers, the film then pitches to the heartbreaking truth that badgers across England are facing.

The audience watches on as an artist draws the image of a badger into the sand on a stunning Devonshire beach, only for it to be washed away from the tide, disappearing from British shores forever.

In Devon alone, ten years of culling has seen 35,022 badgers lost.

Making the Sand Badger film

In designing the film, Badger Trust worked closely with sand artist Rachel Shiamh and digital media specialists Badger & Combes to ensure the message of the campaign is clear – badgers are being washed from Britain by a cull that targets up to 90% of badgers in some areas.

The film states that badgers have called England their home for 250,000 years. And yet, in the past decade badgers have been unfairly persecuted in an attempt to control bovine TB, a disease that is primarily spread between cattle.

With this new film, Badger Trust hopes to highlight what England's national wildlife heritage could lose if the cull continues. Badger Trust’s Christmas wish is simple – to see badgers thrive in the place they have called home for so many centuries. And for badgers to thrive, the controversial and unscientific badger cull must end now.

Peter Hambly, Badger Trust Executive Director said:

“The badger cull is England’s greatest wildlife tragedy happening before our eyes.”

“200,000 badgers killed so far – it’s too late for these blameless badgers, but the government needs to call a halt now to save badgers in other English counties. Bovine TB is a cattle-to-cattle disease. Defra needs to stop making the badger a scapegoat and get on with cattle measures now before the badger is extinct in more areas.”

In helping in the creation of the film, sand artist Rachel Shiamh explained:

“The badger is so close to my heart as we cohabit in my woodland home here in Pembrokeshire. I feel passionate about protecting our wildlife on every level, and their right to live freely in their natural environment.

I was asked to create the badger portrait in SW England where the badger culls are at large and they are being wiped out. I chose to draw on Woolacombe beach in North Devon and was met with perfect tides and weather.

It took four hours to draw, with locals approaching and listening and sharing in support of the project. Many had not realised the culls are still in process.

Overhead view of a badger drawn in the sand on a beach with the waves coming in

I sat with the portrait then for two hours to wait for the tide to come close so I could send up the drone to film it.

“It's always a moment of intimacy when the tide touches the artwork, yet this was a poignant and sad moment for me and the passers-by to witness the washing away of this utterly beautiful creature. “

She continued: “May this offering serve to awaken a realisation of what is happening and aid a movement to preserve and protect our badgers.“

Badger & Combes, a digital media production company which has selected the badger for its logo and name, produced the film for the charity.

Badger Trust has campaigned to end the badger cull since it was first suggested. This is the first time since the cull began, however, that the numbers of badgers remaining could be below the numbers required for sustainability.

The loss of badgers from their native English range is a national travesty and one that the government is responsible for amending.

How YOU can HELP BADGERS NOW

There are many ways you can help protect badgers and oppose the government's failing, unscientific and cruel badger cull:

Enough is enough. Badgers deserve better © Badger Trust 2022 badger image © Rachel Bigsby

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