Oxfordshire Badger Group Charity Funding Appeal

You can make a difference by donating today to Oxfordshire Badger Group (OBG). We're a small wildlife welfare charity which promotes the conservation and protection of badgers, their setts and habitats across Oxfordshire. Our volunteers are passionate about the welfare of these amazing animals and give their time and energy freely. They rely entirely on donations from people like you to keep going - both in our field work and our equally vital campaigning, education and conservation activities.

Badgers, sadly often come into conflict with humans and need us to speak up and act for them. Let us tell you a little about our work and how your donation will help us to help badgers.

Badger rescue and welfare

Oxfordshire Badger Group works with members of the public and wildlife hospitals in the rescue of injured or sick badgers in Oxfordshire.

Our teams are on call to advise the public and landowners who may have concerns about the welfare of badgers in their community. We are very grateful to Nutkin Ward, Tiggywinkles and especially Oxfordshire Wildlife Rescue for the treatment provided.

It's hard when the badger cannot be saved, but at least we have spared the pain and suffering. We have many wonderful success stories where the badger has been healed and released back to the wild.

Badger vaccination against bovine TB

Oxfordshire Badger Group works with farmers, landowners, volunteers, and the public to prevent the spread of bovine tuberculosis by providing treatment, under licence, in the form of vaccination to badgers in Oxfordshire. Bovine tuberculosis is a disease in cattle that has spread into the wildlife population, including badgers. Through badger vaccination, we aim to reduce the transmission and spread of the disease in the badger population and reduce the risk to cattle. We believe it is important to offer a humane and equally effective alternative to culling.

Campaigning to end The Cull

Oxfordshire Badger Group has always strongly opposed the policy of culling badgers as part of the government’s strategy for eradicating bovine TB. In 2020, the government issued licences to cull badgers in Oxfordshire for the first time. Since then, the cull zones have progressively expanded and now cover an estimated 60% of the county.

Currently we are campaigning to raise awareness of the pivotal role scientists from Oxford University play in driving the flawed science used to justify culling. We hold them to account for the cruel and needless slaughter. Over 52,000 people have signed our petition and we continue to raise awareness locally and nationally.

Keeping records of badger sightings and setts

Oxfordshire Badger Group holds details of setts that began to be recorded over fifty years ago. Our confidential archive reveals stories of the movements of badgers across the county: setts abandoned, destroyed or otherwise lost; new setts excavated, unknown setts discovered and ancient setts still in active, healthy use.

We’re delighted to receive reports from people who have been lucky to catch sight of badgers living alongside them. Often it’s a lone badger, sometimes it’s a family feasting on worms in a lawn or breaking into food waste bins.

Keeping accurate records is vital to almost all our work - "we need to know where badgers are to help them"

Education, outreach and awareness raising

Many of our education and outreach activities involve school visits. Generally, we offer a half an hour presentation to the whole school as part of a Badger Assembly. With as many interesting items to display as it’s possible to carry, there are always lots of questions from children and teachers alike. A much shorter version of the presentation is provided to nursery and reception classes and includes story time. Reading a badger story usually finds the nursery children clustered around and watching the badger hand puppet too! We leave the book with the children afterwards and know that it is re-read. There is always serious content as well – introducing the basics of badger biology and ecology, talking about the protection of this iconic mammal, about the risks they face on roads and promoting the need to ‘slow down for badgers.’

Responding to development and other threats to badgers

As part of our outreach and education work, we are often contacted by members of the public with concerns about badgers in or around their properties. Sometimes, they just want to confirm that the signs they have seen are due to badgers visiting. Other times, there are one or more holes actually in their garden and they want to know if these are due to badgers. Occasionally there is so much badger activity that the householders are seeking advice about how to deal with this.

We are also contacted by people who know about local badgers and have discovered that a potential planning application is going to interfere with the sett(s) and want to seek our advice. We work with local residents to save badger setts from being lost through development but as housebuilding continues unabated on both the Green Belt and on green ecologically rich spaces within Oxford, we are losing the battle. However it is important to engage with developers and planners to secure the best possible mitigation and outcome for the badgers - for example by securing wildlife corridors or by retaining main setts where possible.

Tackling and reporting wildlife crime

Our Group liaises with the police, Badger Trust, RSPCA and members of the public to help identify and report wildlife crime. We aim to ensure that all volunteers and members are suitably trained. In April 2023 we organised a very successful and popular wildlife crime training session, provided

Hutchcomb's Copse - providing a safe haven for badgers and wildlife

Hutchcomb’s Copse is a small (2+ acre) ancient and semi-ancient (ASNW) native deciduous woodland on Cumnor Hill. The site has been wooded continuously since before 1600. It remains surprisingly wild and unspoiled despite the proximity to housing and the City.

We purchased the Copse in August 2022 with the help of a Trustee loan in order to protect the Copse from the threat of future development. We are crowdfunding to secure our ownership of the land and to carry out essential, ongoing conservation work.

It is a truly magical and wonderfully wild place. We hope you'll join us for one of our work parties or open days soon ! Learn more and sign up for Hutchcomb news here .

Interested to learn more?

Please visit our website for more information about our other work for Oxfordshire's badgers and ways you might help.

For other ways to donate (e.g. by BACS or by cheque) visit our fundraising page.

This crowdfunding appeal started in March 2025. We'll provide regular progress updates to all our donors.

Thank you for your interest !