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Can you eat badger UK?
Since 1992 it has been illegal to kill badgers in Britain – so the only way to get hold of one to eat has been by picking one off the road. Wild meats like venison, rabbit, pigeon and, yes, badger and hedgehog, are looking rather tastier.
Is it illegal to eat badger?
Mr Boyt, 73, the author of a roadkill cookbook, claims that badgers shot during the cull should be given away to eat rather than incinerated. It is illegal to kill badgers or to interfere with a sett, but there is no law that says you cannot eat a dead one.
Do badgers taste good?
The diet of badgers is different from that of foxes; except in spring, when they eat many young rabbits, badgers do not themselves consume much flesh, and there is no reason why they should not be good to eat. They are said to taste much like pork, but travelers say that bear meat provides a closer comparison. “
Do humans eat honey badger?
They’re also eaten as bushmeat and harvested for the traditional medicine trade; a reputation for bravery and tenacity make honey badgers popular for traditional medicine. Preventing the loss of honey badgers from those areas requires vigilance from local populations.
What does badger meat taste like?
He was right. Each bite had the texture and taste of a piece of red meat that had been brined and smoked. The best description I heard was from Seth and Ben O’Brien comparing it to country ham: salty and good with eggs.
How common are badgers UK?
How many badgers are there in the UK? A survey published by DEFRA found 72,000 social groups of badgers in England and Wales. Other estimates suggest the population may be 250,000-400,000 individuals in the whole of the UK. The UK has a quarter of the global population of the species.
How do you cook badger meat?
- To cook one badger you’ll need:
- Eviscerate and skin your badger, and soak it in a fast-flowing river for at least 48 hours.
- Once the badger is de-greased, cut it into pieces, brown it in a frying pan with butter.
- Pour over the wine and simmer gently for at least two hours.
Are European badgers protected in the UK?
Status of badgers European badgers (Meles meles) are not an endangered species, but they are among the most legally-protected wild animals in the UK, being shielded under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992, the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, and the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats.
Why do people eat badgers in Italy?
In Italy and the Balkans rural people have a culture of badger-eating. In Russia badgers have been a food and a folk-medicine, their fat a cure for coughs. The Prussians even bred a dog – the dachshund (badger hound) – to hound the poor beasts out of their setts.
Is Badger really the only food for the poor?
Badger doesn’t appear in any of the great 18th century British cookbooks, and though Dickson Wright says the animal has always been a staple, it seems to have been a food only for the poor. But in France blaireau au sang (badger with blood) is a well-remembered recipe. In Italy and the Balkans rural people have a culture of badger-eating.
Where are badgers being culled in the UK?
In 2019, there was no UK-wide policy of badger culling; however in 2020 it was proposed to extend the areas in which culls took place to include parts of Oxfordshire, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire and Derbyshire, with a view to killing some 60,000 animals.