Packham’s plea after road death of badger
TV star wants more warning signs
HEARTBROKEN wildlife campaigner Chris Packham is demanding more road signs to alert drivers to animals after his favourite badger was killed.
The 60-year-old penned an emotional tribute after discovering the pregnant critter’s corpse last month.
He wrote on Twitter: “I met this beautiful badger in the lockdown spring. I went to see her every night and slowly won her trust.
“I called her the Golden Sow. She appeared haughty, was more standoffish than some of her group and this made her my favourite.
“Last night I found her. She was still warm. It’s a 30mph limit and a straight road.”
And yesterday he tweeted to his 540,000 followers: “I was moved by the amount of people who reached out to me when Golden Sow was killed.
“That’s why I want more road signs and other measures to alert motorists to badgers and other wildlife, especially at night.” He added: “Let’s try and prevent more tragedies like Golden Sow.” Chris, who lives in the New Forest, is now backing a new campaign called Give Badgers a Brake that aims to prevent more deaths on Britain’s highways. The Badger Trust, which is heading the campaign, said up to 50,000 badgers are killed each year and “many more cubs are orphaned as a result”. The charity’s executive director Peter Hambly warned: “Badgers are following paths they have followed for hundreds of years. Roads built across these ancient paths lead to many tragic accidents. “Having more warning signs to alert drivers to slow down for the Great British wildlife would help reduce accidents and the high death toll of badgers on the roads.”
But a Department for Transport spokesman insisted: “Our small mammal warning signs protect wildlife by alerting road users to potential hazards.”