Badger persecution

All badgers in Scotland are protected by law under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 as amended by the Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2011. However, they are sometimes still persecuted by those who see them as a pest or for the purposes of illegal badger baiting. Reckless or intentional damage, destruction and interference to badger setts (including sett blocking) is an offence which may arise from unlicensed forestry, agricultural or construction works.

There were 20 badger persecution offences in 2024-25, the highest in the six-year period 2019-20 to 2024-25.
Figure 16: badger offences recorded by Police Scotland, 2019-20 to 2024-25.

In both 2023-24 and 2024-25, the majority of badger persecution offences related to digging, damage and obstruction to setts (2023-24: 10 out of 13 offences; 2024-25: 14 out of 20 offences). The remaining offences included killing, dog related offences and trapping and snaring.

Further detail: see Tables 43 to 46 of the supporting documents for information on badger persecution offences by year, offence type, police division and time of year.