HC Deb 11 November 1998 vol 319 c219W
Mr. Barry Jones

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is his estimate of the badger population in Wales, and if he will make a statement. [59516]

Mr. Jon Owen Jones

We have made no direct estimates of the badger population in Wales. A report to the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (1995) based on surveys carried out in 1988 for the Nature Conservancy Council suggested a pre-breeding badger population size of 35,000 in Wales. A report by the People's Trust for Endangered Species (1997) suggests that badger activity in Britain increased by 77 per cent. between 1988 and 1997. I understand those responsible for producing these figures are reviewing them, although no revisions have been published yet.