Baby badger is youngest ever to be rescued by Scottish animal charity

A two-week old badger cub thought to have been dragged out of her home by a larger animal has become the youngest to be rescued by the Scottish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).

The tiny cub weighed just 250g when she was spotted stranded in woods near Inverness on Valentine’s Day by a passing walker who alerted the animal welfare charity.

She was named Lavender and taken into the supervision of Scottish SPCA wildlife care assistant, April Sorely.

“When she arrived she was smaller than my hand,” Sorely said. “She is bottle-feeding well and has doubled her weight since she arrived, which we’re so pleased about.”

Lavender now weighs 575g. She will be hand-reared until she is 12 weeks old, the normal period in which a badger cub would be weaned by its mother in the wild.

Sorely was surprised that the Scottish SPCA received a call about a badger as young as Lavender. “We usually see badgers come into our care around April time, when they are old enough to venture out of their sett and explore their surroundings,” she said.

“She was a very unexpected, but perfect Valentine.”

Baby badgers taken into the Scottish SPCA’s care are typically grouped together so they can socialise as they would in the wild and eventually be released together.

Badgers are common in the UK and are widely culled over fears that they will pass bovine tuberculosis to livestock. The government approved culling in 11 new areas last year, despite previously committing to phasing out the practice.

The environment secretary, George Eustice, has promised that no new culling licences will be issued after 2022.