Badger culling

Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust is strongly opposed to badger culling and we continue to call on the Government to end the cull, develop a more effective Bovine TB (bTB) test and vaccination programme for cattle as a matter of urgency. 

We welcome the new Government’s decision not to proceed with the previous administration’s  ‘targeted badger intervention’ policy, which would have risked significantly expanding culling areas and politicising the associated decision making. We also welcome the new Government underlining its manifesto promise to “work with farmers and scientists on measures to eradicate Bovine TB, protecting livelihoods, so that we can end the ineffective badger cull”. The commitment to focus on vaccination is a step in the right direction, but we want to see an end to culling now, rather than in five years’ time, as set out by Government.   

The Trust understands the hardship that bTB causes the farming community and the disruption and anxiety caused by a herd breakdown. The Trust itself operates two small farms and manages a herd of around 250 cattle. Our grazing animals play a pivotal role in the conservation management of our nature reserves, for the benefit of wildlife. We recognise that urgent action is required to combat bTB. However, culling badgers is not the answer.  

The scientific evidence demonstrates that culling is likely to be ineffective in fighting the disease and, worse still, risks exacerbating the problem. Whilst we are pleased the Government has committed to  a “badger vaccinator field force” under its new strategy, and to assess its impacts, the success of badger vaccination will depend on how it is implemented - at what scale and consistency. Patchy coverage represents a serious risk to any perceived success metrics. To eradicate the disease fully, we need a full suite of comprehensive measures. Most transmission remains cattle-to-cattle, and as such, we need a greater focus on stopping the transmission through cattle movement, through biometric checks etc, as well as further investment in the rapid development of a safe cattle vaccine. 

We believe the emphasis of all our efforts should be to find a long-term solution and we are urging the Government to end the ineffective culling of these important, iconic and legally protected animals.