Ecologist gives up rescue badger after custody rowTelegraph reportersWed, November 11, 2026 at 10:15 AM UTC
Graeme Wilson holds the badger that he rescued from a cow trough - Katielee Arrowsmith / SWNS
An ecologist has given up a rescue badger following a custody battle.
Graeme Wilson, 55, found starving Harriet in a cow trough and nursed it back to health.
He claimed that he had been unable to release her into the wild or find a zoo or sanctuary to take her because she appeared to have been hand-reared, and had been looking after her at his home.
However, he was criticised by wildlife charities and his membership of the British Wildlife Rehabilitation Council (BWRC) was suspended following a row.
NatureScot refused his application for an educational licence to keep the badger because it is a wild animal.
Mr Wilson, who owns the rescue and rehabilitation service GW Ecology in the Scottish Borders, has now found Harriet a licensed home where “she will be well looked after’’, saving the badger from being put down.
Mr Wilson had applied for an educational licence to keep the badger but it was refused - Graeme Wilson / SWNS
He said: “Harriet will be placed somewhere where she isn’t under threat of euthanasia.”
Mr Wilson added: “If I had to do it again, would I do anything different?
‘‘I probably would have contacted an extra couple of organisations but other than that, no. I only have those contacts now because of Harriet.
The BWRC, Scottish Badgers and the Badgers Trust issued a joint statement criticising Harriet’s care. They said the only options were for the badger to be placed in specialist rehabilitation or euthanised.
Mr Wilson said: “The statement that came out from the BWRC, Scottish Badgers and Badger Trust was unhelpful. They never contacted me at any time to discuss the case with me.
‘‘The only contact I had was BWRC suspending my associate membership, and I wrote back asking them to cancel it.
“I was not aware they believed that any animal kept in captivity should be euthanised.”
Harriet has been sent to a licensed home where ‘she will be well looked after’ - Katielee Arrowsmith / SWNS
He continued: “Since the statement has come out, I have been called various names including an animal abuser. I would’ve gladly talked to them and clarified any questions they had.
“They didn’t have all the details and suggested I had just been out and rescued her and there was no history there.
“Other professionals, including rescuers, vets, other badger people and I have all agreed that she had been previously hand-reared in almost 99 per cent certainty.”
Mr Wilson has decided he will take a break from wildlife rescue for his own mental wellbeing as the situation had “taken its toll”.
Source: Nature
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