Volunteers renew calls for a ban on snares after another snared badger rescue

Badger Trust group volunteer recounts the horrors endured by a snared badger.

Content warning: The following account includes references to animal suffering.

Snares have certainly been in the news recently, with MPs debating banning free-running snares at a Westminster Hall debate on 9th January 2023 after a 2022 government petition launched by Animal Aid received 102,616 signatures. However, not one month on Badger Trust received an account of a particularly harrowing snaring incident, with one experienced volunteer describing the ordeal as “the most upsetting rescue I’ve ever dealt with.”

Badgers are the most commonly killed non-target animal caught by cruel and archaic snares. Sadly, Northamptonshire Badger Group rescuers had first-hand experience of the horrendous suffering and injuries caused by snares on a recent badger rescue. The group is determined that the story of this badger and his extensive suffering is used to highlight that snares are barbaric and inhumane and must be banned.

Snared badger rescue

By Northamptonshire Badger Group volunteers.

The rescue story began late on a Thursday night.

"We had a call from our wildlife crime officer that a member of the public had seen a badger with metal or a snare on its mouth. The woman found it collapsed in the middle of a crop field the day before (Wednesday). She had tried to help it, but it eventually ran off. The police looked for hours in the dark on Thursday night and couldn't find it. The location was some crop fields near a country park between a village and an industrial estate on the edge of Northampton.

Early Friday morning, we went to look (and a friend from Oxfordshire Badger Group came over to help us). We spent many hours searching all the hedgerows, climbing through hawthorn and blackthorn buses, crawling through ditches and searching the fields and woodland. We didn't find the badger but did find the large main sett approximately 350m away. It was hard not to think about this suffering badger all the time, and we couldn’t sleep worrying about it.

We had other locals on alert looking and agreed to go back on Saturday and take a thermal imaging camera that we thought might help. We had a call on Saturday from a walker who had found the badger by a small pond — the pond was tucked out of the way, so it was a chance encounter. We were there within 30 minutes, and I got the badger in the cage using gloves. We rushed straight to the vet, but they couldn’t save the badger from its horrific injuries and it was, sadly, put to sleep.

I have done many badger rescues, yet this one was the most horrific I have witnessed. This badger was making awful noises, and it was clearly distressed, in agony, and dying a slow, painful death. It was in a terrible state with the snare around its head and through its mouth, keeping its mouth permanently open. It was so tight that the wire was right at the back of the throat. The badger couldn't have had a drink or food for many days.

We took photos for the police once the badger had been euthanised. On inspection, the snare was wired up to lock and, in our opinion, was an illegally set snare. No animal would have a chance and to snare a badger is an offence. The photos are unpleasant, but I think knowing what these devices do is necessary.

Content warning: The following images show animal injuries of a snared badger.

The badger had been like this for at least four days we know of. Prior to that, the badger had struggled and managed to free itself from the anchor holding the snare in place, so we don't really know how long it had been caught.

All I can think about is how many of these snares are out there, unchecked, catching badgers, or any animal, in the cruellest and most barbaric way. I am actually so deeply upset and affected by what I witnessed and dealt with in a way I haven't been before, and I regularly feel emotional about it. But I am adamant that we need to expose this cruelty.

The badger's body and snare have been kept by the vets for the police to view. Our wildlife crime officer is dealing with it, but it is unlikely anything will happen, as we don't know where the snare was exactly set, but we are looking! The local police force has also published a press release about the incident to highlight that it is illegal to trap a badger in a snare."

In response to this harrowing news, Badger Trust’s Executive Director, Peter Hambly, commented:

“Snaring must stop. The case of the tragic Northamptonshire badger shows that the suffering of the animal is long and horrific. Badger Trust supports the ending of this barbaric and cruel practice as soon as possible.”

What is Badger Trust doing about snares?

Badger Trust has called for an immediate ban on snares used to trap native wildlife, of which the protected badger is the most commonly killed non-target animal in England and Wales.

Badger Trust, with the League Against Cruel Sports, is also supporting the newly published Senedd report championing the proposed ban on the use of snares in Wales and is supporting friends in Ireland to pursue similar objectives.

To help the public recognise, record and report badger crime, including illegal snares, Badger Trust, alongside researchers and developers from the University of Exeter, has created a free ‘Badger Watch’ app.

What can you do about snares?

The best thing you can do to protect badgers from snares is to recognise, record, and report illegal snaring activity. Badger Trust has resources and tips to help you recognise signs of badger crime and badger sett activity, and we need more people to record evidence and report crime when they see it. Only by reporting the crime can you help Badger Trust keep badger protection a UK Wildlife Crime Priority.

Report badger-related crimes to the police and Badger Trust

If a crime is in progress, please ring 999 and ensure you stay safe.

If you find evidence after the event, please use the non-emergency number 101, or report online via a web option your police force may offer.

By also reporting it to Badger Trust, you ensure we can liaise with the police on incidents, that we can alert the relevant local group as necessary, and that we have crime data across England and Wales.

Your report also informs our work with the NWCU’s UK Badger Persecution Priority Delivery Group and Wildlife and Countryside Link Wildlife Crime Group.

You can report badger crime via our Reporting Centre or via the Badger Watch app.

Download the free Badger Watch app

This new app has been developed as a free tool for members of the public and Badger Groups to easily recognise, record and report instances of badger crime when they’re out in the field.

Recording and reporting badger crime at the moment it is witnessed will help save time and save badgers from horrific cruelty.