3rd November 2007 Naturewatch Day

On November 3rd The Gwent Badger Group joined forces with Naturewatch to help them with a campaign against badger baiters in Cynon Valley which is known to various authorities as a stamping ground for badger baiters who operate nationwide.

The campaign aimed at local residents was designed to get them to give up any information they have about suspected baiters living near them to Crimestoppers and offered a £1000 reward for information leading to a conviction.

Thousands of leaflets were posted around the Cynon Valley and on the 4th November we went along to the ASDA store in Aberdare to lend a hand.

GBG Members dressed up as badgers along with members from a Glamorgan group and Naturewatch and handed out more than 2000 leaflets along with other goodies for the children provided by Crimestoppers who sent a local representative to help us out and explain to locals how the Crimestoppers system works.

Also giving up time was local MP Ann Clwyd and a few local Community Police officers which really helped attract attention to the cause, all in all it was a very successful day, we all had a great time and would like to thank everyone who helped out and thanks to Naturewatch for involving us in something we fight so passionately to stamp out.

We would also like to thank the Staff at Asda in Aberdare, for looking after us so well. Thanks Guys.

To visit the Naturewatch site to learn more Click here

To View a Gallery of the days events Click here

16th Setember 2007
Events pick up after summer washout
After a summer of rain rain and more rain the season picked up with a few late events which 
were well attended and we have managed to catch up a little bit on funds.
We met many people of all ages and passed on as much info as we could and hope that we
have given everyone a good idea of what we do and helped them learn more about Badgers.

The vintage car rally in Newport will probably be our last event of 2007 but we are always 
available to give talks and practical demonstrations throughout the year to schools, groups, 
scouts, guides and anyone else who would like to learn about badgers and the work we do.


Thanks to all who visited us and made donations.

DID YOU ENJOY MEETING US, let us know by signing the guestbook

Here are a few pics from the car rally

Up close with a badger

Ready for action, a young recruit takes the challenge

Latest news 31st July 07

Just back from the Badger Trust conference which was hosted by the Derbyshire group supported by the Liestershire group, we were given talks by various speakers such as The new Badger trust CEO Richard Yarnell, Ian Hutchinson of Scottish Badgers, English Nature and Secret Worlds own Pauline Kidner.

The talks covered a wide range of the latest goings on in the Badger and wildlife world, everything from Rescue & Rehab to Bovine Tb, The GBG Chairman Steve Clark also joined up with Derbyshire's Irene Brierton to Cover Persecution and Snaring.

Of course everyone who is a regular to this site knows about Miracle the badger the GBG rescued form a snare, and endured 9 weeks of surgury and rehab due to these terrible wire traps, well this was picked up by The league Against Cruel Sports who were at the conference and Cerys Roberts The Snaring Campaign Officer told us about the new website which is researching Snaring, as it is a subject that strikes a raw nerve with the GBG we have said we will highlight the website.

On the site you can learn about snares, report incidents, take a survey and sign up against them as well, so please take a visit by clicking the picture below.

A Badgerman becomes a Batman!

A while ago we rescued a bat ! Well we did it again....

Are all the creatures in Gwent beginning to realise that if care is needed turn to GBG? Maybe so, but throwing themselves on to the windscreen of the Chairman is a little extreme! That’s what happened to GBG Chairman, Steve Clark on his journey home from a recent committee meeting.

Driving from Usk to Chepstow a faint bump on the car caused Steve to quickly scan his eyes over the windscreen, and there to his amazement was – a bat! The wing was trapped in the framework of the windscreen wiper and whilst the body was pressed firmly against the windscreen. Not being able to stop immediately, Steve drove to a lay-by being prepared to extract the bat and lay it to rest along the hedgerow. On untangling the bat it responded in an ungrateful way, with a snarl!

Not having a bat cave, sorry, cage to hand Steve resorted to placing the bat in the glove compartment of his car. On arriving home the bat was again upset at being disturbed but needed to be transferred to a more secure container overnight. The rapid conversion of a sandwich box proved ideal, and both Steve and “Albert” settled for the night.

First priority the following morning was to make sure “Albert” had not suffered any major injuries, and, as previously, we called on the expertise of Erica Colkett from the Countryside Council for Wales.

Erica visited Steve at his workplace and examined the, still aggressive, bat and was happy to declare that “Albert” was a mature healthy pipestrelle who was extremely lucky to escape with just a slight bruising to one wing. The advice was simply to take the bat back to the site of the incident and let him go.

So less than twenty four hours after the incident “Albert was back in the air - none the worse for his experience!

Latest TB News : 16-06-07

Badger cull would be "meaningless"

Click here for the first press release by the Daily Telegraph More news as it comes in

2nd June 2007

Their Gone!

Bramble and buddleia the 2 cubs we have been nursing have finally reached that milestone and have been moved on to Secret World for the next stage in their lives.

Midweek they made the journey from Wales to Somerset to be mixed in with other orphans of the same size to form a social group ready for release later this year.
They were a little shy at first but Bramble came out first into the new pen, Bud had to be helped out a bit later.

When their new room mates finally woke up the got on like a house on fire with no problems at all, we were a bit nervous as our cubs had bonded really well and Bud can be a bit defensive but she seemed to get on the best with her new pals while Bramble took his time getting to know them.

After a cup of tea and a farewell we left them in peace with their new family, it is always hard when we have to let cubs go but this time it was much harder as we had Bramble from such a young age and as you have probably read below at time it wasn’t easy, but we have to do what is best for the badgers and give them their chance in the wild and someday raise a family of their own.

Thanks to all who have been involved with the cubs, and don’t fret we will probably have some more soon.

"Have you enjoyed the updates of Bramble's progress? Give us your views and opinions, add a comment to our Guest Book"

news 29th May 2007

Good news and progress for Bramble and Buddleia.

After the alarming problem affecting Bramble last week and a restless weekend for his carers Bramble is making a good recovery. The paralysis of his back legs was only brief, but his reluctance to use his front legs was cause for great concern; challenging to both his carers and the veterinary staff.

The failure to use the front legs whilst the back legs worked normally didn’t fit with any normal spinal or skeletal injury. Vets consulted vets, carers consulted other carers and nobody could diagnose the problem, the best we could do was give Bramble time and see how he coped.

Reassessment after a week of careful nursing, feeding and close confinement brought its reward and Bramble was able to stand and move normally again. The only conclusion we could reach was that the initial trauma caused a temporary paralysis, but a muscular injury had also occurred at the same time resulting in the reluctance to use the front legs.

Whilst this injury may have delayed Bramble’s rehabilitation all plans are being put in place for him to be transferred to Secret World for the next week.

In addition to this good news for Bramble, the vet’s were able to present us with a TB negative certificate for his companion Buddleia.

It’s another huge thank you to the veterinary staff at Chepstow Veterinary Health Centre for the advice and treatment provided.

Badger Cub Emergency 18th May 2007

Early this morning Bramble our male cub was rushed to the vets with a very strange problem, it all started when the morning checks were underway at around 6.45am and all was fine then at about 7.15am there was bedlam in the pen.

Steve was just getting ready for work when he heard one of the badgers screeching very loud so went to investigate, when he lifted the top off the pen Bramble was puffed up in a defensive posture and all his fur was on end and he was making a terrible noise, and when approached was very aggressive which is unusual for him, then Steve noticed he had a problem walking.

After he was removed from the pen he was put onto the floor to see how bad the problem was, he was rolling over onto his side and crying in pain and did not want to use his back legs at all, as Steve had to go to work (we all have day jobs) he called on his colleague Mike to take him in to the vets.

At the vets he was examined and things just seemed to be getting worse, he did not want to use his back legs at all and seemed to slide around rather than walk and there were now signs of weakness in one of the front legs as well.

As this was a very unusual presentation the vets had to do a battery of tests to start ruling out possible causes so after a lengthy examination he was sedated and bloods were taken and he was x-rayed, the bloods came back ok with no signs of viral infections, sugar problems or heart complaints, the x-rays came back all clear as well.

All that could be done was done; it was decided to go with caution so he had a dose of antibiotics, steroid based anti inflammatory and pain killers and as he came around from the sedative he seemed to be using his front legs ok and although he could stand on the back legs he opted to drag them around as before.

The only conclusion we could come to is that he had slipped whilst playing and had twisted or bruised something very badly and had been given strict bed rest until his next appointment, Thanks to all the vets and staff who worked so hard on bramble today.

It has been a very tense day for the vets and GBG staff who have been caring for bramble since he was a very tiny baby and who is now only weeks from leaving us to go to Secret World to be prepared for release, to have a serious setback now is devastating, let’s just hope he improves over the weekend, fingers crossed.

News Update April 07

Quite a busy April so we are putting all the main news into one sectioned report.

Secret World Badger Weekend
The Easter weekend at Secret World proved to be a great success for the GBG, Bramble made his first public appearance on the lawn for a few selected days over the weekend and was a big hit with the public, Pauline Kidner at Secret World also invited another GBG officer onto the lawn with one of the many cubs that Secret World are caring for this season which we consider to be a great privilege.

Steve feeding Bramble at Secret World

The stall raised a good amount of funds and donations for the GBG and Secret World and we would like to thank all the volunteers who helped out over the weekend to Secret World for putting up with us and to all the people who came to see us THANKS.

Cub Update
Bramble is growing fast and is now starting to look like a badger, he was pounding around like he owned the place until Pauline Kidner from Secret World suggested he needed Badger Company, and this came in the form of a little miss called buddleia.

Double trouble

It was suggested that Bramble needed to be with another badger so the GBG agreed to take on Buddleia as company and it has proved to be excellent stimulation for Bramble as far as playing, fighting and skill gathering are concerned and it has also helped to get them onto solid food as there is nothing like healthy competition.

Staying on the health side of things Brambles first TB test has come back as negative which is great news.

The Vet gets a handful of badger

Latest Cub News

Bramble and his female companion Buddleia are no longer being bottle fed and are sampling a diverse range of food; scrambled egg, weetabix, chicken, sausages along with dog meat and mixer. The transition from bottle to food wasn’t easy, upset stomachs and sometimes reluctance to feed, but the period has passed and most foods presented are now being taken. As badgers are omnivorous a wide variety of food needs to be introduced into their diet, and apples are another recent addition to their menu.

Cubs in the rehab pen

They now have the full use of the rehabilitation pen, complete with bedding chamber, giving them some space to explore, feed and play.

GBG on the BBC
The BBC have been out to film the badger cubs for an appearence on their Iolo's Welsh Safari 
programme with Iolo Williams this will be aired on BBC Wales on the 7th May 7:30pm; 
rpt 8 May, 2W, 7pm

Iolo Williams

Power to the Badger
The GBG were called upon via CCW to help out in a supervisory role while emergency work had to be carried out on an underground power line.

Western Power Distribution were called to the site in the Usk area and due to the high standards of environmental training they have spotted a badger sett in the path of the line and before starting work contacted CCW to explain the situation.

The GBG and CCW work very closely on badger situations so they asked us to supervise the work and advise on the guidelines of working close to a badger sett

Needless to say the work was carried out and the badgers were undisturbed thanks to the cooperation of WPD, CCW and the GBG, what a great show of professionalism and because of this the job was carried out with speed and the minimum of fuss.

I think Western Power Distribution showed Environmental thinking on the job, well done to all involved.

click for larger image

Looking at the little fellow now it’s hard to imagine how small he was just three weeks ago, A tiny 430 gram, 15 oz, cub, blind and deaf, has transformed into a boisterous badger now tipping the scales at 1.25 Kgs (2.75 lbs).

His feed after 2 days in care was 165 mls of milk, he now takes more than this in just one feed and his daily intake is now approximately half his body weight! As the milk in the bottle reduces so Bramble’s stomach visibly expands and after a feed the milk slops around inside him – you can liken this to holding a coconut to your ear and shaking it to hear the milk rattling! Four feeds at regular intervals throughout the day has reduced the need to satisfy his hunger in the early hours of the morning.

click for larger image

He enjoys a chance to stretch his legs before he’s fed and frequently makes a quick dash across the carpet before losing his balance and rolling over on to his back.He quickly outgrew the hamster cage so his home is now a large dog cage, which will be home for about another two weeks before being transferred to the rescue pen, the ideal time to start the weaning process.