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The market for badger is actually significantly larger than you would expect. I suggest you google the topic, and make a few calls... you will be stunned. If you dig deep enough - you can find pictures of these "badger farms" as well. The "top end" badger hair - we (wetshavers) never see, as it goes to painfully expensive paintbrushes that make our high mountain white shaving brushes look cheap.

I have personally spoken to several badger firms in Asian (both who farm it and who steralize it) as well as England, and from all accounts I am told it is always sheared - and have heard some pretty funny stories/mishaps about the poor fellas who have the job of shearing the angry little monsters.

Badgers are not killed for their pelts, period.

I hate to beat a potentially dead horse, but I have to question this a little.

I was hoping to get a badger brush for Christmas this year to replace the used boar brush I picked up at the flea market, and I decided to give the fellow at blankity-blanks a call. He (very colorfully) told me that he'd been to China on several occasions, and they were starting to have issues with the badger supplies which were raising prices (300% in the last few years), do to scarcity caused by overhunting (killing).

My wife (a wildlife biologist), is more than a little concerned with this statement, and said that if this is true she couldn't in good conscience contribute to the potential extinction of the chinese badger.

Neither of us particularly cares one way or the other about badger being killed for brushes; provided if they are hunted, it is done so in a way that's not destructive to their populations as a whole or their natural haibitat. I'd hope things are done humanely, but after talking to people who've lived in China I'd bet a Simpson they aren't. If they're farmed (and killed or sheared) in the vast majority of cases, then our ethical dillema is resolved.

If anyone knows of any actual research done, I'd appreciate that far more than anecdotal accounts; however, any information is better than none.

If I don't hear any more, I suppose I'll have to live with a boar brush or a synthetic.

Best Regards,

James
 
http://www.emsplace.com/bristle_types_and_bloom.htm
Bristle Sourcing:

As a company dealing in badger brushes the question about the source for badger hair comes up quite often. We have had conversations about this with many of the manufacturers we work with. Mr.Philip Watterson ,Managing Director, Progress Shaving Brush (Vulfix) Ltd provided us with what we consider excellent information on this subject, and is our basic understanding within the industry. He said this information could be shared as necessary and we think it would be educational here...

"Badger hair is imported from China. British, American and Canadian Badger are of no interest to brush manufacturers and cannot be connected with today's limited trade. China being the main export of Badger hair does so with very strict control on the amount exported each year, clearly displaying their awareness of environmental conservation. The Badger population is carefully monitored avoiding any decrease in its numbers. (It should be remembered that the Badger is a source of meat to the Chinese people and is available in the markets). Chinese Badger are collected from the wild and are not in contravention of the Washington Treaty of Endangered Species."

"This has been an industry for the people of China for hundreds of years and it should be remembered that an increase in the Badger population would quickly be regarded as vermin and a pest to agriculture. The high prices paid for Badger hair, its removal being a costly operation, means that any significant growth predicted in its demand has little foundation. Such an expensive product will never be part of the mainstream fashion boom. Britain, Europe and America all operate very strict import controls ensuring that any Badger hair brought into these countries is done so with all legislative agreements being strictly adhered to. The ecologists in both the exporting and importing communities of Badger hair have created a system preserving the Badger, an important source of livelihood for hundreds of years in the Far East and ensuring that a small market does exist, creating valuable work in an industry which dates back to the time when wet shaving was first recorded."

In addition, sometimes a customer has mentioned hearing that badger are sheared like sheep and ask if this is true? Mr. Watterson indicated that from his vantage point badger are not sheared like sheep. Em's Place has never heard that from any of the other brush makers we communicate with either. In regard to boar brushes, our understanding is those bristles are primarily sourced from China, India and Russia.

If the above is correct, then they are hunted (and not farmed/sheared). The only question being is the economic incentive enough for china to protect it's environmental resource.

I'll continue doing research.

James
 
odd question ...

if they shear the hair how do they get it into the knot?
(shaped and tips aligned perfectly?
some kind of massive hair stacker (like in fly tying?)

sounds like a lot of trouble that would have poor results

just curious ....
 
In fact, they do use a hair stacker that is very similar to that in fly tying. That said, I can't picture them working off of anything but a pelt. Picture reaching into a bag of loose elk hair and loading up a stacker to make an elk hair caddis. Wouldn't happen. You clip off of the pelt, try to keep the hairs aligned, and load the stacker.
 
Even if the badgers are killed for their pelt, I don't consider this cruelty. Animals die in the wild all the time. Every animal dies, whether by gunshot or by being ripped to shreds by the teeth and claws of another animal. Its the cycle of life, the law of nature, etc. etc. Is it really worse to be shot for a pelt than to be eaten by some other wild animal, or run over by a car, or killed in a wildfire, or starving to death due to overpopulation? From what I can tell, its pretty rare for any wild animal to die a peaceful death due to old age. At least if the pelts are sold it is for a use, and the hunter benefits himself, his family, and his community. I'd have more problem if the badgers were simply killed and left to rot. I'd also have more problem if they were hunted to the point of endangerment, but lets not fool ourselves on this count either. Nature has caused the extinction of more species than man has ever dreamed of. If this were not so, we'd have to keep a watchful eye on the skies whenever we left home lest we get snatched up by a hungry pteradactyl.
Be that as it may. I understand that people have different sensitivities on this issue and if your scruples won't allow the use of a badger brush, by all means, use a synthetic. I'm not trying to change anybody's mind, I'm just trying to convey my thoughts on the issue. Of course, YMMV.
 
I'm not looking to turn this into a contentious thing... I just looked into it out of curiousity. I can find several seemingly reliable links where people are certain the badger does die. Here's an example...

It turns out that the badger DOES die. Sorry!

We received an email from a CustOMER last week challenging our longstanding belief (honestly held) that Chinese badgers weren't dying for the production of these exquisite English "best badger" shave brushes. We did some investigation. Here's the email that we received back from the Simpsons owner David Carter:

"Dear Remo ... Thank you for the exchange of e-mails with Mary Ken and Lee's Razors. You may be interested to know that the Chinese eat badgers and the badger hair is a by-product of the meat industry. Until recently we could eat badger hams in a pub in Dorsetshire in the UK, and jolly good it was too! ... Yours, David Carter"


That example was from this page...

http://www.remogeneralstore.com/online/html_bcast_show.cfm?pk=47

So... I know that's not definitive, but I can't find any direct references to shearing but the above one shows an actual vendor who says he THOUGHT the hair was from shearing, but he ultimately found out otherwise.
 
While it's quite possible the badgers are farmed and sheared (economics, not ethics, again...)my great uncle used to be a trapper. It may be disturbing to some, but the accepted method he told me, (not necessarily for badgers, but its only a small stretch) is to approach the animal while it is caught in the trap, place one's boot on the animal and crush down, crushing the animal internally and (according to him) killing it instantly without destroying the valuable pelt...
I have of course never seen this in person, and many of the things that were common place years ago would make many raise an eyebrow these days. Still, it DOES make economic sense to farm these, whether they are slaughtered for food / pelt or simply sheared...
I'm sure a little of both happens. One does not, after all, eat badger stew without the badger being harmed.
John P.
 
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