Woodchester Park and the surrounding farmland are ideal badger habitat.
The mixture of deciduous/coniferous woodland, permanent pasture, scrub and the soft Cotswold sand means that the valley is rich in food and an ideal setting. As a result the area has one of the largest densities of badger setts in Britain.
The population at Woodchester is the subject of the largest mammal capture-mark-recapture studies on the Eurasian Badgers. A wealth of information on their ecology has been discovered.
Interesting Facts About Badgers
There are approximately 15 badger social groups in the Woodchester Park valley.
Each group territory contains several setts. The number of active setts varies widely over time, although many of the main breeding setts have remained in use since the study began in 1976. Since then the number of resident badgers has increased although in recent years it has stabilised at between 150-200 adults per year.
Where badgers are rare they may be solitary or live in pairs. But in most of Britain they usually live in social groups of approximately 5-12 individuals. Each group of badgers usually produces one litter of cubs per year. The majority of cubs are born by early April.
Badger cubs stay below ground in burrow systems called setts for at least eight weeks.
There is usually one main breeding sett within the territory. In addition there may be other setts. These have been referred to as annexe setts (connected to main sett by obvious paths), subsidiary setts (no obvious path, not continuously active) and outlying setts (used sporadically and often taken over by foxes and rabbits).
Earthworms are generally the most important single food item for badgers in the UK, but other invertebrates, cereals, fruits, carrion, certain plants and fungi will also be taken.
Much mortality in badgers occurs at a very early age, often prior to emergence. Once they have reached adulthood most badgers usually live for 3 to 4 years.
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