Brockwatch

Ali was found by a member of the public who was out walking his dog on the outskirts of Northampton on March 25th 2006. The little cub was lying out in the open in broad daylight, not far from a badger sett. Steve was contacted, and he attended with Peter Fry.

It seemed likely that Ali had been taken from her sett by a dog, and then dropped nearby - abducted then abandoned, you might say. At around 8 weeks old she was too young to be above ground, and could not make her way back home. We decided that the best course of action was to take Ali to the Leicestershire Wildlife Hospital, for expert assessment and care. But first, we checked the area around the sett, just in case any other cubs had been taken from the sett and leaft nearby.

At the Wildlife Hospital, Angela Downham found that Ali had got bite wounds consistent with our theory that she had been taken from her sett by a dog. The wounds would need to be treated, and Ali should make a full recovery. If no other cubs came into the care of the Wildlife Hospital by the time her wounds had healed, Ali would be taken to another wildlife rescue centre with badger cubs so that she could be reared as part of a group. As it turned out, Ali would not be on her own for very long. Just over a week later, she was joined by Ewan.