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Why is this project important?
We have studied badgers in Wytham Woods, Oxfordshire, since 1973. The resulting dataset is possibly the most detailed and complete for any carnivore population in the world. Wytham is a very important site, having the greatest density of badgers ever recorded, rising through the 1990s from 10 to 38 adults per square km. Our study has shown that badgers have an intriguing social system that defies conventional explanation. Most carnivores are solitary, and those that do live together in groups generally display complex co-operative behaviour. Badgers, however, live in groups but do not collaborate in feeding or in defending their territory. Instead their grouping hinges on the distribution of their food - primarily earthworms in the UK. We have also discovered that badger survival and cub productivity may be affected by climate change. Badgers attract very polarised views. On one hand, they are familiar, popular animals, featured in the logo of our wildlife trusts. On the other, they cause millions of pounds worth of crop (and other) damage each year, and are implicated in the spread of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) to cattle, the latter resulting in an experimental badger culling campaign by the government. Since the Wytham badger population is not subject to perturbation through culling, it makes an excellent comparative model for study populations that have been disturbed.
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How is this project making a difference?
Deliverables
We regularly produce peer-reviewed publications on fundamental aspects of badger biology, and our undisturbed, high-density population provides an ideal source of baseline information for comparison with other populations. Badgers remain extremely popular with the public, and WildCRU provides guidance and information about badgers to hundreds of people each year; over 6,000 people have been badger watching in Wytham over the last decade.
Cascade effects
Comparisons between the behaviour and ecology of Wytham’s undisturbed badgers and badgers in bTB control areas contributes to government policy on badger management. The detailed nature of the study has also provided unique insights into the foundations of mammalian sociality, and the continual refinement of our field methods contributes to ever higher standards of animal welfare; a model applicable to all wildlife work.
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How can you help? We are indebted to the People’s Trust for Endangered Species, which has provided core funding for the project since 1987, and to the Ernest Cook Trust, which has contributed generous financial support. You could help us to continue and expand this flagship project in three main ways. Firstly, we urgently need an additional quad-bike and trailer to make all aspects of our fieldwork more efficient. Secondly, we are especially keen to develop the behavioural element of the study, for which we need up to twenty GPS radio-collars, and five remote video systems. New technology can allow us to fit badgers with radio-collars that log the badgers’ exact location while also recording ambient temperature, humidity and even the number of mouthfuls of food the badger chews, as it forages. Thirdly, our research is particularly labour-intensive, and we would appreciate donations towards the employment of an additional member of staff. |
 David Macdonald with a Wytham badger |
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YOU
CAN HELP THIS PROJECT
Target to be raised £119,000 |
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You can find out about the budget for this project by contacting us. See our contact details. If you are interested in finding out more about the science involved in this project, we would be happy to send you further information. WildCRU is part of the University of Oxford, a tax- exempt charity. To maximise tax benefits to both donors and WildCRU, please see Donations. |
Principal
funders Partners |
Text by Sandra Baker
