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.
Contacts
If you already have a licence number, include it in the subject line of your email, or have it to hand when you call.
You should receive an automatic confirmation email from us if you send an email. If you do not receive this, please phone us on the number below: