Flawed badger cull expands across England

Flawed badger cull expands across England

The Wildlife Trusts call on government: invest in medicine not marksmen

The government has given permission for badger culls to go ahead in England for another year.

This year, badgers are now at risk in Staffordshire and Cumbria, in addition to the existing areas of Gloucestershire, Somerset, Dorset, Cornwall, Devon, Herefordshire, Cheshire and Wiltshire.  

The Wildlife Trusts believe that the government’s strategy is flawed because bTB is primarily a cattle problem, not a wildlife one and makes no sense at a time when a review of the government strategy which drives the culls – the bovine TB eradication strategy – is still underway.

Only 1 in 20 cases of bTB herd infections are transmitted directly from badgers, thus, culling badgers is not the answer and it is also counterproductive. Culling disrupts badgers’ social structure, causing them to move around more frequently and over longer distances – which can result in increased bTB transmission.

Badger © Dr David Williams

Badger © Dr David Williams

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Standing up for badgers

The Wildlife Trusts have consistently opposed the government's badger culls on the basis that they are neither effective or humane.

We do not permit badger culling on our land, and are encouraging further research into an effective vaccination.

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The Wildlife Trusts have opposed badger culling for well over a decade and most recently have written to Secretary of State, Michael Gove, to highlight the flaws of the badger cull and request that the cull be ended in favour of strategic and widespread badger vaccination schemes, and to invest in developing a cattle vaccine. Yet again, this has not happened.

Medicine not marksmen

Ellie Brodie, Senior Policy Manager, The Wildlife Trusts says:

“It is unacceptable that the government has not waited for the results of their own review – which we understand is to be published imminently – before forging ahead with another year of ineffective and expensive badger culling. The badger cull is a dangerous distraction from addressing the main route of bTB transmission in cattle which is between cattle.

“The Wildlife Trusts have been involved in this debate for over ten years. In 2008 we successfully persuaded the Labour Government not to go ahead with a badger cull. In 2012 we helped stop the initial badger cull pilot in Somerset and Gloucestershire. Simultaneously, we have led the way in demonstrating that badger vaccination would be a far more effective route, accompanied with strict biosecurity controls, movement controls and robust cattle testing regimes.

“We’re calling on the government to invest in medicine, not marksmen. The costs of killing badgers are much higher than vaccinating them – it costs £496.51 to kill a badger compared with £82 to vaccinate a badger”.

The way forward 

The Wildlife Trusts call on the government to:

  • Halt the badger cull now.
  • Invest in and promote a strategy for badger vaccination. This should be led and funded by the government, across England.
  • Invest more time and resource in further research into farm biosecurity and movement controls. We need to know what works.
  • Accelerate development of more effective tests for bTB in cattle and put serious investment into a bTB cattle vaccine. This is a cattle problem, not a wildlife problem.

The Wildlife Trusts are urging people to write to their MPs asking them to help stop the cull. 

Act now