A badger that surfaced in the backyard garden of a Brocklehurst residence this week was found dead on Wednesday morning.
The endangered species was recovered by the BC Conservation Officer Service (COS) from a hole it had dug in the yard of her home, Cherie Bitz told KTW.
She said she hadn’t seen the badger make an appearance on Tuesday while she awaited a conservation officer to attend. The COS set up a cage baited with meat that evening to catch the badger, Bitz said.
It’s not clear yet how the badger died, but Bitz said the COS is investigating.
Kamloops conservation officer Graydon Bruce had told KTW the agency intended to release the animal in the Lac Du Bois grasslands area.
KTW is awaiting further comment from the COS.
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Bitz initially discovered the hole in her yard on the weekend and assumed either a mole or marmot dug it.
She filled in the hole, but the badger re-appeared, leading to her coming face-to-face with the badger on Monday.
Fewer than 350 badgers are believed to still live in the province, according to the conservation group Badgers in BC.
Badgers are members of the weasel family and considered an at-risk animal in B.C., according to the Ministry of Environment.
They tend to live primarily in deep-soiled grassland, shrub-steppe and open stands of ponderosa pine or Douglas fir and can be found in the southwestern B.C., including the Kamloops area.
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