Badgers: Conservation
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the badger population in each year since the enactment of the Protection of Badgers Act 1992.
Answered by Mary Creagh
Since the enactment of the Protection of Badgers Act 1992, two national badger monitoring surveys have taken place. A 1994-97 survey estimate did not provide an estimate of the overall population but instead estimated there were 46,100 family groups in England and Wales. A survey of the badger population in 2011-13 estimated that there were approximately 424,000 badgers in 71,600 family groups in England and Wales.
In February 2025, the Animal and Plant Health Agency commenced the latest badger population survey which will estimate badger abundance and population recovery to illustrate the impact of widespread culling over the past decade.
Verbatim has judged this answer against the question that was actually asked — answered, partly answered, or evaded. Sign in to see the verdict →