In Badgers: Their Secret World, Âwildlife expert Steve ÂBackshall take us into the animals’ habitat and even their burrows for a deep delve into the mammals’ fascinating lives
They are some of our most Âelusive creatures. Few of us are ever lucky enough to see them but all that is changing.
For the first time we are about to glimpse the hidden lives of badgers, thanks to a two-part documentary, which starts this evening. In Badgers: Their Secret World, Âwildlife expert Steve ÂBackshall take us into the animals’ habitat and even their burrows, called setts, for a deep delve into the mammals’ fascinating lives.
And, in a world first, a European badger called Peggy gives birth on camera watched by a mesmerised Steve. He says: “Badgers are our largest carnivore â we hunted out our wolves, bears and lynx years ago. They are relatively common yet we rarely see them, and so much of their lives is hidden from our view.”
A part of the British countryside for more than 250,000 years, today there are about 400,000 in the UK â a quarter of the entire global population. Steve explains that they spend 70% of their time underground and live out their lives as we sleep. I know plenty of people who have lived in the countryside their whole lives and yet never seen one,” he says.