Badger licences

Licences issued by us

We can issue licences for appropriate purposes, so you can work legally. These  licences allow a person to:

• interfere with badger setts:
  • for any agricultural or forestry operation
  • to maintain or improve existing watercourses or drainage works
  • to construct new works for land drainage, including sea/tidal water defences
  • to control foxes to protect livestock and penned game

• kill or take badgers or to interfere with their setts to:
  • prevent the spread of disease
  • prevent serious damage to land, crops, poultry or any other form of property.

For further guidance, application form or advice please contact a Wildlife Management Adviser:

• e-mail: Wildlife@gov.wales
• tel: 0300 061 5920

Rydym yn croesawu galwadau’n Gymraeg / We welcome calls in Welsh.

Bovine TB

Under the TB Eradication Programme, we issue licences to mark, trap and take badgers. This is to prevent the spread of disease on farms which have a TB chronic breakdown herd. Badgers which test positive for TB are humanely killed.

Licences issued by Natural Resources Wales (NRW)

NRW issues licences for:

• scientific or educational purposes for the conservation of badgers
• zoological gardens or collections
• ringing or marking badgers
• developments defined under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990
• preservation, or archaeological investigation, of a scheduled monument
• investigation of alleged offences, or to gather evidence for a court proceeding
• controlling foxes to protect released game or wildlife.

For application forms and further guidance, please contact 0300 065 3000, or visit Badger licences on the Natural Resources Wales website.