Badgers in 'hardest ever rescue' after cliff falls

Two badgers have been rescued following cliff falls.

Badger Trust Isle of Wight were first called to Whale Chine Beach on the Isle of Wight's southern coast on Sunday.

A badger was stuck after it fell to the beach when the cliff collapsed.

Found to be "very cold but feisty" with a wound on its hindquarters, it was hauled up the cliff in a cage and warmed with a hot water bottle.

The Badger Trust said it then rescued a second badger trapped partially up a cliff in Bembridge, about 15 miles (24km) away. Both were taken to Carisbrooke Vets for treatment.

The trust said unfortunately the badger from the second rescue, reported by RSPCA Godshill, had been found "in a very bad way".

Volunteer Graham Lee who helped rescue the creature said "it had been outside in the cold and was injured... sadly on welfare grounds it had to be put to sleep."

He added the first rescue up the sheer cliff from the sandy beach was "physically exhausting" and "one of the hardest badger rescues that we have done".

He said the other badger remained at the vets receiving treatment and tender loving care and hoped it would be released when it had recovered.

The volunteers thanked a fossil hunter who reported the shivering badger to them and stayed to help rescue it from the remote beach.

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