Badger helpers open rehabilitation unit in secret Derbyshire location

The group has kept the new facility's location a closely-guarded secret

A wildlife group run by volunteers has opened up its first bespoke badger rehabilitation unit.

The new facility, at a secret location in Derbyshire, allows injured badgers to recover in a secure environment.

Cameras inside can keep human contact to a minimum during their stay.

Mid Derbyshire Badger Group, one of three voluntary badger organisations in the county, is now raising funds for a second unit to allow them to treat more than one badger at a time.

Mid Derbyshire Badger Group said 50,000 badgers were killed by cars every year

A spokesman for the group, which has been operating for more than 30 years, told the BBC: "We've completed the unit more or less, to the point we can now house an injured badger inside.

"In the case of an injury, we'll attend and assess, and while badgers are a protected species we have the experience of capturing them if they are injured.

"We will normally take them to a vet and take their advice. Sadly sometimes we do have to euthanise if a badger is injured in something like a road traffic accident.

"Fifty thousand badgers are killed by cars every year - that's a lot.

"If the vet says the badger has got a good chance to recover, we will bring it to the unit, usually for a couple of days, up to a few weeks in the worst cases."

While in the unit, volunteers will only enter the badger's area to refresh food and water, to treat wounds if required, and change their soil tray "latrine".

The spokesman said: "Badgers are very clean animals, it's amazing, they've never been in an enclosed space before but nine times out of 10 they know straight away how to use the soil tray.

"We can monitor their behaviour and recovery using cameras. Often we know they're better when they start to try and escape!"

The group now wants to build a second facility

Once recovered, the badgers are returned to as close to their original location as they safely can be.

As well as collecting and treating injured and unwell badgers, the group's volunteers also carry out other duties.

They provide information and advice to anyone experiencing issues with badgers and setts, advise on planning applications, investigate flooded setts, and respond to dead badger reports.

They also campaign on badger issues, including against the nationwide cull that the government is carrying out to combat bovine tuberculosis (TB) in cattle.