Badgers and the law
Badgers are iconic and integral parts of UK wildlife; peaceful, playful and often poorly treated by humans. On this page you’ll learn about the UK badger laws and legislation in place to protect badgers, types of illegal badger activities, and what we do to help prevent and prosecute crimes against badgers.
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Badger laws in the UK
For hundreds of years, badgers have suffered from human cruelty. From badger digging and baiting, to their unfair persecution due to bovine tuberculosis (bTB), badgers have been abused, mistreated and unjustly attacked for far too long.
Thankfully, badgers and their setts now have some legal protection in the UK. In 1973, the Badgers Act 1973 was passed, providing badgers with some of the legal protection they deserve. The act made it an offence to intentionally harm a badger. However, due to loopholes in the law, badgers were still being killed, and their setts blocked or destroyed.
In 1992, the act was strengthened and renamed as the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 – preventing cruelty to badgers and badger setts across England and Wales to this day.
In exceptional circumstances, licences can be granted by the relevant licensing authority (such as Natural England or Natural Resources Wales) – for developmental work or forest operations, for example – meaning badgers may be disturbed, taken or killed, or their sett entrances blocked.
If a potential site for a road or housing contains an occupied badger sett, planning permission may still be given as long as the correct measures are taken to protect the sett.
Illegal offences
Kill, injure or take a badger (except under licence)
Cruelly ill-treat a badger
Use certain prohibited firearms
Dig for a badger
Damage or destroy a badger sett or obstruct access to it
Disturb a badger in their sett
Cause a dog to enter a badger sett
Tag or mark any badger (except under licence)
If you’re concerned that someone has illegally injured or killed a badger – or you’ve spotted a new badger sett location, a badger road casualty, or any other suspicious or illegal badger activity – report it confidentially to the Badger Trust Reporting Centre. If the crime is in process, also report it to the police.
Spotted a sick or injured badger?
From unlawful badger baiting to traffic accidents, badgers and their cubs are commonly injured or even killed by human activities. If you find a sick, injured or dead badger, learn how you can help.
Illegal badger activities
Though crimes against badgers have reduced since the passing of UK badger
legislation, sadly they haven't disappeared completely. Wildlife crimes,
specially against badgers, are still too common. Find out more about these below.
Badger digging
Badger digging is the illegal act of digging into a badger sett – and any kind of badger sett disturbance is a criminal offence under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992.
A small dog (usually a terrier) is sent into a badger sett wearing a radio collar, while the offenders track the signal and dig into the sett once the badgers have been located.
Badger digging is usually a way to capture badgers to later be used in badger baiting and is widespread throughout the UK. However, in certain rural areas, badger digging competitions are held under the guise of ‘digging into rabbit warrens’ which are currently not protected by the law like badger setts are.
If you see someone digging a badger sett, or suspect that badger digging has taken place, report the crime to the Badger Trust Reporting Centre. If the digging is currently in process, inform the police, too.
Note: Anyone wanting to dig a trench or pit within 20 metres of the nearest entrance to a badger sett (for developmental work or forestry operations) may require a licence, and should contact the relevant licensing authority (Natural England or Natural Resources Wales, for example) before attempting to do so.
Badger baiting
Badger baiting is an illegal and incredibly cruel blood sport, listed as a criminal offence under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 in the UK. The savage sport pits badgers against dogs, forcing them to fight – often to the death – simply for ‘entertainment’. Sadly, this isn’t a new act of cruelty. Though officially outlawed in 1835, it’s still prevalent in rural areas.
After capturing a badger through badger digging, dogs are set upon them, forced to fight either at the sett or at a man-made enclosed area. In many cases, two or more dogs – usually small terriers – are unleashed on a single badger, while lurchers are used to chase down any badgers that escape. The end result is almost always the death of the badger.
Both the badgers and dogs are usually severely injured in these brutal events. If the badger survives the attack, the offenders often beat the badger to death, and may even destroy their dogs if they didn’t perform well or are left with life-threatening injuries.
The Animal Welfare Act 2006 states that any owners using their dogs for baiting can receive up to five years in prison, whereas, under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992, badger baiters may receive a meagre six-month sentence. This highlights a deep disparity between protective laws for wildlife and domestic animals. In response to this, the RSPCA is working to strengthen wildlife legislation in 2026.
Badgers are peaceful, playful and curious creatures, who will more often retreat rather than attack. They’re not aggressive animals by nature and their setts are a place of sanctuary to many species like hedgehogs and foxes. Only when backed into a corner, or defending their cubs, will they fight back.
The peak season for badger baiting is during the breeding and birthing season, between late winter and early spring – most commonly January and February – because badgers are naturally more defensive when they have cubs to protect.
Sadly, badger baiting in the UK was the second most common reason that badgers ended up in veterinary care after road accidents in 2016, when the last study of its kind was carried out.
It’s a sick sport that needs to be stopped.
The use of social media to organise and share badger baiting activity has meant badger baiting has become a cyber-enabled wildlife crime.
Lamping, shooting and snaring
Badgers are also brutally injured and killed through other illegal methods such as:
- Lamping: Using a spotlight to startle the badger before either shooting or killing them with dogs.
- Shooting: Illegal unless officially licensed.
- Snaring: Creating a noose out of wire to capture the badger by the neck, intended to immobilise them, though it often results in their death. Sadly, some snaring is not illegal, but intentionally snaring a badger is.
Badger culling
Badger culling is the legal act of killing badgers under licence. In 2013, the UK Government started a widespread intensive programme of badger culling, despite conclusions that it was an ineffective solution for controlling bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in cattle.
Since 2013, around 250,000 badgers have been killed under licence (with many more illegally killed in relation to the cull) – all of which continues to demonise this incredibly inquisitive species. We don’t support the badger cull – there’s always more that can be done to protect and benefit badgers, cattle and farmers, alike. Every kind should be treated with respect. It’s time to end the cull.
Despite their ecological significance and legal status as a protected species, badgers continue to suffer as much unjustified illegal persecution today, if not more, than when the latest legal protection was passed.
Wildlife and Countryside Link, Wildlife Crime Report 2025
Reporting badger offences
Reported crimes against badgers rose by 6% in 2023. In 2024, reports of badger baiting increased by 46%. Preventing and convicting wildlife crimes is dependent on the crimes being reported, a vital role we can all play.
If you see someone digging near a badger sett, or suspect them of badger baiting or illegally culling badgers, report the crime to the Badger Trust Reporting Centre. If you see a crime being carried out, call the police first, making note of your location (using landmarks, road signs or a What3Words reference for your exact whereabouts).
Learn how to recognise the signs of, and how to record and report badger crimes by watching this video from Badger Trust.
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Against the law
It is an offence to:
- Wilfully kill, injure or take a badger (or attempt to do so)
- Cruelly ill-treat a badger
- Dig for a badger
- Intentionally or recklessly damage, destroy or obstruct access to a badger sett
- Cause a dog to enter a badger sett
- Disturb a badger when it is occupying a sett
There are exceptions where licences can be granted to disturb the badgers or block access to a sett, for example, because of development work or forestry operations.
If you're concerned that someone has illegally injured or killed a badger, please contact the police or contact us.
- Read Defra's policy on reducing bovine tuberculosis.
- Find out what bovine tuberculosis is and how it affects cattle.
- Read more information on living with badgers.
Protecting badgers
Badgers were given some limited protection in 1973, but weaknesses in the law meant that badger setts were still being dug, bulldozed, blocked or the animals were cruelly killed.
We successfully campaigned for better protection and continue to help enforce the law by assisting with police investigations or prosecuting people involved in wildlife crimes such as badger digging and baiting.
Undercover RSPCA inspectors have helped bring a number of successful badger digging cases before the courts. Some of these have involved the use of advanced forensic techniques including DNA evidence.
