The RSPCA has issued a warning to the public after a potentially ‘aggressive’ badger was seen chasing after dogs and pedestrians in a park.
The footage showed a badger wandering after people and their pets at Cannock Chase Country Park, West Midlands, on Monday (2 May).
While badgers are usually nocturnal, this one could be seen following dogs around in broad daylight, at one point coming dangerously close to a French bulldog.
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The badger then set its sights on a woman crossing over water via stepping stones, tailing her as she speeds up to try and get away.
It then wandered off onto a grass embankment, before reemerging back onto the public bath, heading into the woodland area shortly before the clip ends.
After the video was shared online by local Ben Clay, the RSPCA has confirmed that the badger’s behaviour is not normal, telling people and dogs to stay away.
The charity: "This is not normal behaviour for a badger, who are nocturnal and wouldn’t usually be seen in open daylight walking amongst people.
“The RSPCA would advise that if anyone sees this badger - or any other - behaving like this, to keep a distance, and to keep dogs well away.
"It may well be disoriented and could be unpredictable and aggressive.
“If you see a badger you have concerns about please call the RSPCA’s emergency line on 0300 1234 999."
After filming the bizarre scenes at Cannock Chase, Clay shared it on social media later that day, writing: “Little badger came out to play at stepping stones in Cannock Chase.”
The video has since gained more than 370,000 views, and almost 1,300 comments from viewers expressing their concerns.
One person wrote: “Might be worth a report to the RSPCA, that is not normal behaviour.”
Someone else said: “That’s not a good thing. That’s either a sick badger or one that someone has hand raised and released for some insane reason.”
A third commented: “It’s most probably riddled with TB acting like that in broad daylight and looks thin to me.”
A fourth said they were ‘pleased no one got too close’, while another added: “Poor thing, clearly something is wrong with him.”
According to the RSPCA, badgers are mostly nocturnal but cubs may be seen foraging during daylight during summer if food is scarce.
The charity also said they are ‘highly territorial’, meaning fights between badgers for territory are ‘fierce and can cause injury’.
Jess Hardiman