Chinese Pandas and British Badgers

There's some similarity in the black and white markings and also that both are in the news. The Chinese look upon the panda as special to their culture and of great symbolism, and, if we are to believe news items, they are very upset over the death of one of their pandas loaned to Japan. The story is being told as one of great emotional significance.

So would you expect the same degree of indignation from wildlife trusts that the animal whose head is used as their emblem should be under threat of being killed by farmers in England? If you did expect that you would be disappointed. One or two scattered and muted comments but little else. Even they would be qualified by remarks to the effect that badgers of course are not an endangered species.


The truth is that wildlife trusts have questionable commitment to wild animals and certainly not a good record in promoting wildness. Of course these comments may be unduly influenced by our experience of one wildlife trust, Sheffield Wildlife Trust, whose commitment seems more to farming, land management and bird gardening than to genuine wildness. Birds are of course the acceptable wildlife for those who find wildlife troublesome. Lest that appear unfair, take into account these experiences:

1 A lengthy stretch of barbed wire fencing was installed on Blacka and remains there. One of the features of this is that it has four strands, the bottom one of which is only inches from the ground just in place to potentially harm wild animals such as badgers. They later (after criticism) replaced a section of this with plain wire, but only the part most likely to be seen by the public and arouse comment. Most remains as originally.

2 The most impressive and inspiring sight on Blacka in recent years has been wild red deer stags. Several years ago SWT submitted an article to the Totley Independent about Blacka Moor, the first time they had done so. This article did not even mention the wild animals. Its title was Beautiful Beasts of Blacka Moor but this did not refer to the deer but to the farmer's cattle they were intending to put on the moor - though they had not yet appeared. The article went on to enthuse with dubious sincerity about certain farming practices, going on to rhapsodise about a future when livestock farming once again dominated the area - whether or not with all the industrial mechanisation that is the face of modern farming was not revealed.

There has been a constant agenda of talking up farm style management as if this is part of the culture and tradition of Blacka that must continue in perpetuity. That this is a well rehearsed response is clear from the way it surfaces each time that the benefits of wilder approaches are demonstrated and beauties are seen which arise from the actions of nature alone.

Observing these trends one becomes aware once again that institutions create their own conformity originating in a shared self interest and fearing the perspective of independent thought.