Between Beckerich and Huttange a part of the road has been closed off for months, as it is sinking and cannot be repaired. This is due to the fact a family of badgers have made their home under the road. The road closure has caused some outrage and been subject to a parliamentary question.

Responding to a question submitted by CSV MP Martine Hansen, Minister for the Environment Carole Dieschbourg said the answer could lie in building an artificial sett, also referred to as a badger bunker, for the badgers. The Nature management Agency is responsible for their welfare, so as soon as an adequate area has been found for the artificial sett, the badgers will be moved, the minister assured the MP.

© Christophe Hochard / RTL

© Christophe Hochard / RTL

© Christophe Hochard / RTL

© Christophe Hochard / RTL

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It is important for the new home to be within the animals' territory, but it is not easy to define this territory, so officials will resort to the English practice of bait marking.

Badger bait marking uses peanuts and syrup to lure the badgers into eating. The food is mixed with colourful plastic pellets which can then be found in the animals' dung. An intense study of around a year long will help to give officials the best idea of the badgers' territory, said the minister. One problem, however, is that the bait marking method works well with British badgers, but less so elsewhere.

Another potential method is telemetry. using GPS to track the animals for a year. However, in order to implement this system, the badgers must first be caught, and it is difficult to bait the badgers with food.

The Nature Management Agency's conclusion for this specific case, is that the time wastage is too great to define the territory, so officials will look for a location near to the existing sett which would suit the construction of the artificial sett, using methods which have proven successful in the UK. In Luxembourg there have been very few such cases - this is the first of its kind, in fact.

In other regions of the country, such issues with the roads have not cropped up in relation to badgers. As situations like this are rare, there was no need to create a national strategy, said Dieschbourg.