Badger Sett Closure Legislation
Great Britain supports some of the highest densities of badgers in Europe. Numbers have increased, especially in urban areas and their presence can cause problems. These issues can range from damage to gardens, property and public spaces, to problems with more serious implications to human safety such as the undermining of roads and railways.
Badgers and badger setts are protected under the Protection of Badgers Act, 1992, which makes it illegal to kill, injure or remove badgers, or to interfere with a badger sett.
Any action that interferes with a sett (including blocking tunnels or damaging the sett in anyway) requires a licence. The 1992 Act defines a sett as ‘any structure or place which displays signs indicating current use by a badger’. The term ‘current use’ does not simply mean the badgers are present at the time of inspection.
Under this legislation, WildlifeCo can act on your behalf to identify and resolve problems related to badger activity:
- Serious damage caused to land, crops, poultry or any other kind of farm property
- In relation to housing and commercial property developments
- For the purpose of disease spread prevention
- For the maintenance or improvement of drainage works and flood prevention
- Agricultural forestry conservation
- Preservation or investigation of scheduled monuments
- For the purpose of science, education and conservation
We are licensed and qualified to undertake all aspects of badger related work, including badger activity surveys, bait marking, badger sett closure, the design and construction of artificial setts and badger proof fencing.
For further advice on how the law affects and protects badger activity in your area, please feel free to download the following advice guides;
Advice
Badger Problems – Advice to Householders (pdf download)
Problems with Badgers in Rural Areas (pdf download)
Badgers and Development (pdf download)