The proposed ‘targeted badger intervention’ policy states that it will “allow badger culling to continue in areas where evidence supports the need for its application”.
The Wildlife Trusts have significant concerns about the consultation and the proposals and have written to the Secretary of State to express these concerns.
We understand the hardship that bovine tuberculosis (bTB) causes in the farming community and the need to find the right mechanisms to control the disease. However, there is no reliable peer reviewed evidence to show that badger culling is having a significant impact on lowering bovine tuberculosis in cattle in or around cull zones.
This latest consultation appears to support the ongoing culling of badgers indefinitely and fails to provide sufficient information or detail on thresholds, parameters or timescales. The UK Government proposals could lead to 100% of badgers being killed in areas across England where bovine tuberculosis is found in cattle.
Our involvement with this issue over a long period, and the results of previous culling trials, have led us to conclude that a sustained programme of badger vaccination where required, deployment of a cattle vaccine, alongside improved biosecurity measures, and improved testing and controls on cattle movement would be the best means of tackling bovine tuberculosis.
The Wildlife Trusts will respond to this consultation to make clear that there is no reliable evidence that suggests that badgers are the primary cause of the spread of bovine tuberculosis in cattle. We will also challenge Defra on the critical information that is missing from the consultation and let them know that due to the lack of information it is not possible for us to meaningfully engage in the consultation process.
It is clear from the evidence that bovine tuberculosis is primarily a cattle-to-cattle disease. The way to tackle it lies with cattle-based measures. The Wildlife Trusts yet again call on UK Government to end the cull, accelerate the roll out of a cattle vaccine and implement livestock measures urgently.
You can have your say by responding to the consultation or by writing to your MP.