Two resident badgers at Secret World Wildlife Rescue near Burnham-On-Sea have sadly died, the charity has said this week.
Pauline Kidner, founder of the organisation, says their resident badgers, called Betsy and Lunar, have both passed away.
“Betsy, the oldest, had a stroke and was immediately taken to the vets where she was assessed. She recovered consciousness and Dom, the vet, was happy for her to come home and to see how she progressed.”
“The next day she had eaten all her food and was sitting up so we were hopeful that she would make a full recovery. However, we believe she had a second stroke later in the day and Dom felt there was no chance of her surviving so she was put to sleep. Betsy died at home and was 12 years old.”
“Less than a week later we were horrified to find Lunar dead in the sett. Lunar was one of the badgers that appeared in the BBC series with Chris Packham called The Burrowers.”
“To lose both badgers so close together is so unusual that a post mortem has been carried out on her. The findings were that there was no evidence of ongoing disease or illness. She was recently off food and had a possible secondary gut infection. There was no evidence of anything toxic etc. Lunar was 6 years old.”
She adds: “Both badgers worked so hard in their lifetime, making people aware of how important badgers are to the ecosystem. People had the chance to see that badgers are not the maligned creatures that so many believe they are. Betsy and Lunar will both be very much missed.”
Secret World, well known for its work with badgers, will now have no resident badgers on site for the first time in 30 years.
