In Sweden live Badgers are used in tests in order to train and prepare earth dogs for hunting underneath ground. This has for several years causeddebate concerning the welfare of the Badgers. It is questioned whether the purpose of the dog training, i.e. to reduce injuries in both dogs and prey, is worth the suffering that is reflected on the Badgers. The aim of this investigation was to study 1) stress levels in Badgers when used in earth dog training, 2) if the stress load differs when the Badgers are exposed to dogs with varying aggression levels (low, moderate, high).

This case study is based on a previous documented method of manufacturing artificial nest containing pre-colored hen eggs. This method is going to be used to find, if the wild boar population, which is growing in number, is a threat to the capercaillie population.  In comparison to the wild boar population, the capercaillie population is diminishing in different parts of Sweden.  In order to find out if they are affect by each other, the case study was carried out during the months of April to May 2009. 100 artificial nests were placed out on various locations on the Södertuna estate just in the outskirts of Gnesta. The unique aspect of this study is that a fenced environment to keep out wild animals is used to conduct this study, which has been previously known to be free from wild boar, but the area outside has sittings of wild boar. So to fully understand how this affects the capercaillie population, 50 of the nests were placed outside the fence area, while the other 50 nests were placed inside the fenced area. The sites were visited on two separate occasions, and were noted of the changes inside and outside the fenced compounds.