Badgers: possession of specimens

It’s an offence to possess a dead badger or badger parts, unless the animal was killed or taken legally.

The Protection of Badgers Act 1992 bans the possession of:

  • a dead badger
  • part of a dead badger – e.g. a badger skin sporran

You are not guilty of this offence if you can show that:

  • the specimen was killed or taken legally
  • you had no reason to believe, when purchasing the item, that it had not been taken legally

A licence thus isn’t required to possess a dead badger or parts of a badger. But it would be your responsibility to show that items had been taken legally were the police ever to question you.

Contact

If you already have a licence number, include it in the subject line of your email, or have it to hand when you call.

Licensing Team

01463 725364

[email protected]

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