GWCT calls for lethal badger control

Lapwing predators

Badgers are responsible for more than 40% of curlew and lapwing nest predation, according to new research analysing camera trap footage from 2,088 bird nests across Britain.

The collaborative study, involving the GWCT, RSPB, Essex Wildlife Trust and Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, found 29.2% of monitored nests were predated, with badgers accounting for 41.7% of wader nest losses. Foxes accounted for 23%.

GWCT calls for lethal badger control

Andrew Hoodless, the GWCT’s director of research, warned that habitat restoration efforts “can be in vain” without predation management. He said non-lethal methods like temporary electric fencing were not always practical, raising questions about tackling protected predators. The GWCT’s Joe Dimbleby argued that lethal control should be permitted where badgers threaten red-listed species.

Lapwing numbers have declined by 53% since the mid-1990s, representing a loss of around 110,000 pairs. Current estimates suggest only 300-450 pairs of nesting curlew remain south of Birmingham.

Data from Auchnerran in Aberdeenshire showed badger predation increased during cold or dry weather when earthworms became scarce. Nick Hesford, GWCT director Scotland, said the findings suggest weather forecasting could inform targeted predation management to help protect vulnerable wader populations, which he described as essential to reversing the continued decline of lapwing in Scotland.