Concerns over dead badgers spotted around Horsham

Several people are reporting seeing the bodies of the animals in many places around the district.

One person says he has seen four on the same road within three days and another says he has come across 10 in the past few weeks.

Another person said he had counted eight dead badgers on a stretch of road from the coast to Horsham.

Drivers are now being warned to take extra care on the roads.

Meanwhile, many people have taken to social media expressing their sadness at seeing the dead badgers.

A number are blaming new housebuilding in the area for dislodging the badgers from their normal habitat.

But Sussex Wildlife Trust’s wildcall officer Charlotte Owen says that many badgers will be travelling further than usual at this time of year in a search for food to feed their young.

“Seeing lots of dead badgers on roads, or more dead badgers than usual, isn’t necessarily because there are more badgers,” she said.

“Road casualties tend to be linked to badger activity, which peaks at certain times of year when badgers naturally roam further than usual, putting them at greater risk of death or injury on the roads.

“At the moment, females are busy raising cubs - which are usually born in February and March - and often need to travel further than usual to find sufficient food. “Badgers also roam further during periods of dry weather because the earthworms and other soil invertebrates that form the bulk of their natural diet are much less active and harder to access when the ground is dry, so they often go in search of new feeding grounds and alternative options.

“Dead badgers and other roadkill can be reported to Project Splatter, a citizen science project that aims to quantify the impact of roads on wildlife by mapping roadkill across the UK.

“The project provides weekly roadkill reports on Twitter (@ProjectSplatter) which place badgers at the top of the list of reported fatalities in recent weeks.”

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