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A large landowner within the new South Downs National Park in Sussex has removed all snares following a joint investigation by the National Anti-Snaring Campaign and Badger Trust West Sussex.
The estate had previously declined to remove snares despite the widespread removal of snares on other major estates in West Sussex when alerted to the danger they pose to badgers.
The discovery this summer of a metal stake (known as "kill poles") minus its snare, but with unmistakable signs of a badger having been trapped for some considerable time resulted in the NASC asking the Badger Trust West Sussex to examine badger populations in the local area.
We concluded that there was clear evidence that there was a localised wipe out of badgers - and clear evidence of widespread snaring in the area. While it might be expected that a main sett would be found every 1 - 2 kilometers on the Downs, the situation on this estate was much less; indeed it was so bad that even The Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats was being contravened.
As the estate receives tens of thousands of pounds in conservation grants from DEFRA we contacted the estate owner to make him aware of the situation. We are pleased to say that the snares have been removed. The NASC will continue to monitor the area but we are delighted that the badgers are no longer at risk from the terrible suffering snares bring.
BTWS pioneered the use of reflector posts to protect badgers from being hit by cars on the roads.
Here is a new model reflector which is much improved from earlier stainless steel reflectors being placed next to a badger run crossing a main road: headlamps reflected give an early warning to the badger and work on the same principle as deer reflectors which are used in many parts of the UK.