"Many of the Badger Trust’s supporters are amateur badger enthusiasts, who belong to local badger groups scattered around the U.K."

"There are about sixty such groups, and they are 'very protective of badgers in their local area,' Hambly said. 'They tend to be people in areas who, for whatever reason, started to watch badgers at night.' A badger might amble into someone’s back yard, for instance, or be spotted walking alongside a country round. Some groups, like the Lancashire Badger Group, have hundreds of members, while others have just a few diehards. The Badger Trust also operates a helpline for distressed badgers. 'People ring up and say, "There’s a hurt badger, can someone come and help it?" Or, "A badger’s been knocked down," or, "A badger’s destroying my garden."' Actual contact with humans, however, is rare. Many badger-lovers have never even seen a live badger. (They love them from afar.) You might glimpse one cutting through a field only because it is following an ancient route; badgers will use the same pathways for hundreds of years. 'They’re quite mysterious,' Hambly said."

From "Britain’s Badger Wars/The animals are being killed in droves. Are they pests or political pawns?" (The New Yorker).