Precious Baby Badgers: Opal, Jet And Topaz Enjoy Life After Rescue

Rescued in early March, the adorable trio are being cared for by the experienced team at Secret World Wildlife Rescue in Somerset. 

Opal, Jet and Topaz have been named after precious gemstones and are being hand reared by the foster mums who are preparing them for life back in the wild.

First to be rescued was Opal, who was found alone in Yeovil and after two weeks was joined by little Jet, who was rescued by a farm owner near Bristol. 

A few days later, Topaz was brought to the rescue centre after being found abandoned in Dorset.

Animal carer Jess Crabtree, 29, spoke about the great care which is taken while feeding the badgers.

She said: “The cubs are fed five times a day, and only two or three carers take responsibility for feeding them.

“We wear green tunics when we handle them rather than the usual blue worn by staff, so they associate with us in these green clothes which smell of them, rather than becoming used to humans in general.

“We will gradually start introducing them to solid foods at around nine or ten weeks old, which is when they would naturally emerge from the sett in the wild.”

And Jess said that the babies are responding well to the care and are putting on weight.

“They’re going through a lot of milk. Opal was just 426 grams when she was rescued and she’s now over 1.2 kilograms, with Topaz not far behind,” she added. 

“Jet’s a bit younger but he’s putting on weight and becoming more active like the other two, although he does like to sleep a lot.”

Secret World is opening its doors to the animal loving public from March Friday 25 to Monday 28.

You can help feed the baby badgers by donating to Secret World’s appeal at www.secretworld.org/feed-a-cub