Step into the secretive world of badgers and get involved in citizen science with Badger Trust
- Badger Trust Staff Team
- Jul 22, 2024
- 3 min read
People of all ages and abilities can participate in a unique opportunity to witness the daily lives of these iconic native mammals while helping to assess their population status—from home!
We need your help classifying footage from Badger Trust’s first large-scale camera-trapping research project, part of our State of the Badger pilot survey.
While there is much badger behaviour analysis, we need up-to-date and accurate data about influences on badger population levels.
Badger Trust’s State of the Badger Project aims to address a lack of monitoring and data by undertaking a national badger population assessment in the coming years.
Using a range of survey techniques, we plan to build a picture of the health and status of badger populations in England and Wales.
This information will be crucial for ensuring their continued presence in our landscapes and advising on future management strategies.
Our State of the Badger Pilot Survey is the first step in this ambitious new project.
As part of the pilot survey, we have deployed camera traps to monitor badger activity across various locations with the help of our network of Badger Champions. We now have thousands of short video clips showing badgers and their wildlife neighbours.
We want to collect and analyse a significant amount of data to kickstart our badger population assessment.
With your participation, we aim to deepen our understanding of how badger clan sizes and activity levels fluctuate based on habitat and to observe how badger setts can benefit other wildlife.
Here’s where you come in: We need your help classifying footage from Badger Trust’s first large-scale camera-trapping research project.
The process is simple and straightforward. As you watch these fascinating videos, you’ll see badgers playing, grooming, foraging, and even squabbling in their nightly routines. You might even spot other wildlife visitors! Your observations will help us understand badger behaviour and contribute to our research. It's a fun and easy way to get involved in citizen science.
Your involvement is not just significant; it's crucial. By helping us classify this footage, you're making a real difference for badgers. Your contribution to this vital research will directly support badger conservation efforts across England and Wales, and you're part of a community of people making a positive impact on our wildlife.
Join us in this exciting mission and help shape a better future for badgers and the diverse wildlife that share their habitats.
How can you and your clan take part in our citizen science project?
We’ve uploaded short 20-30-second videos from our State of the Badger camera traps to our friends at MammalWeb. We need your help to spot badgers in the footage and record any other wildlife you see!
Step 1
Register with MammalWeb. It’s free!
MammalWeb will send you a confirmation email with your login details.
Step 2
Login to MammalWeb.
Under ‘Projects’, select State of the Badger from the list.
Step 3
Watch a State of the Badger video and start classifying what you see!
You’ll be able to choose from a list of common animals and you’ll note how many you see. If you know the sex or whether it’s adult or juvenile, you can choose that too or leave it as ‘Unknown’.
If you need help, MammalWeb has information pop-ups on different animals, plus quizzes and FAQs.
Join us in this exciting citizen science project by signing up to start classifying our State of the Badger videos today!
Further information:
Why are we doing the State of the Badger Project?
Badger Trust’s State of the Badger Project aims to address a lack of monitoring and data and build a picture of the health and status of badger populations in England and Wales.
Despite protected status under the Protection of Badgers Act (1992) and the Bern Convention, the European badger (Meles meles) faces significant threats from habitat loss, road traffic collisions, and persecution in the UK. In addition, badgers have been extensively culled in England for over a decade in a flawed attempt to control the spread of bovine tuberculosis.
Overall, few studies provide contemporary population estimates for European badgers in Britain, and none specific to key counties of interest, for example, counties impacted by intensive badger culling, heightened rates of planning and development, and wildlife crime.
