What is a badger?
The badger, or European badger, is a nocturnal mammal found across England, with a black and white striped face and grey body. Badgers live in large underground networks of tunnels called setts.
Badgers are members of the weasel family. They are powerful diggers with strong claws.
They live in family groups called clans and can share setts that have been used for generations. Some setts are hundreds of years old.
Diet and protection
Badgers eat earthworms, insects, fruit, bulbs and small animals. Earthworms are their favorite food.
Badgers are protected by law in England under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992. It is illegal to harm them or interfere with their setts.
Badgers have been culled in some parts of England to control bovine tuberculosis in cattle, a controversial policy.
Badgers are rarely seen during the day. Wildlife groups run badger-watching events at dusk.
A badger can weigh around 10 to 12 kilograms, and some setts have dozens of entrances. Badgers are clean animals, regularly changing their bedding of grass and leaves. They usually give birth to cubs in late winter, and the cubs first come above ground in spring.