The New Forest Badger Watch itself was founded in 1991, when it became the first facility to enable the public to watch wild badgers close up above and below ground on a daily basis from March to October. There have been many influences which led to its conception. Chief amongst them, of course, has been fascination from countless evenings watching since boyhood days of 1945.

In 1950, at a time when rearing orphaned badger cubs was an inexact science, we raised two young males alongside a litter of springer spaniel puppies of much the same age. Flotsam and Jetsam were eventually released back into the wild.

Persecution of badgers in the New Forest was a largely unrecognised phenomenon in the 1950's and 1960's. Setts were blocked on a widespread and systematic basis to keep foxes above ground (see photographs below) and many badgers died underground, causing serious reduction in their population.

Oliver Hook, Eric Ashby and Anthony Kilburn spent much effort trying to get the problem recognised and put right. Eventually, with the participation of the Forestry Commission, they founded in 1969 the New Forest Badger Group, the first of what are now nearly 100 Badger Protection Groups nationwide.

Persecution still continues, fortunately less here than elsewhere but it is ironic that the New Forest Hounds in the year 2002 unlawfully dug out a badger's sett locally in order to kill a fox. - Spots on this particular leopard have not changed much since it has the dubious distinction of unwittingly having been instrumental in the start of the badger protection movement through its merciless activities all those years ago, illustrated above. A true countryman knows that watching wildlife gives a more civilised pleasure, and for so much longer, than does killing it

THE LAST WATCH
We held our last watch on October 31st 2002. Sadly the geography of the sett is such that it is impossible to seperate it from the residential property on which it exists without the nightly, albeit wonderfully silent, presence of the public impinging upon the privacy of subsequent owners and the time has now come for me to retire to France to a more normal existence at dusk. Badgers and foxes were seen within touching distance as they have been on thousands of almost consecutive evenings over the years by tens of thousands of rapt visitors, not to mention by millions of others several times a year on television.

Flotsam and Jetsam, with adoptive family

 
Anthony Kilburn with friends - 1970