Thursday, January 04, 2024
Stop the culls
A review of evidence by the Badger Trust after 10 years of culling in England killed 210,237 badgers, costing £58.8m, without a significant easing of cattle TB, has found that improved cattle testing, better financial and mental health support for farmers, and cattle and badger vaccination will more effectively tackle bovine TB in cattle than culling badgers.
The Guardian reports that the disease has cost taxpayers more than £100m each year, with 20,000 cows prematurely slaughtered:
The government promised in 2021 to end intensive badger culling by 2025 but is now expected to consult on replacing it with “epidemiological culling”, whereby every single badger in an area could be culled based on epidemiological evidence.
The current culls require more than 70% of a local badger population to be killed rather than wiping out the entire population.
“The badger is a complete scapegoat and distraction,” said Peter Hambly, executive director of the Badger Trust. “We need to work with farmers because they need more support to understand the risks and transmission routes of bTB.
“The main ways to deal with bTB are cattle measures, and we need a more rigorous, focused approach and we need farmers, vets and the rural community with us. Reduced cattle movements, improved biosecurity and ultimately much better cattle testing and cattle vaccination will have the best effect on bTB in everyone’s interests.”
Some of us have been saying this for years. As the Guardian says, the main cause of cattle TB is other cows, with scientists estimating that on average about 94% of infections flow from cow to cow, and just 5.7% of infections from badger to cow and despite 10 years of badger culling in England, there is no scientific consensus on whether it has reduced cattle TB.
The UK Government needs to change course, and quickly.
The Guardian reports that the disease has cost taxpayers more than £100m each year, with 20,000 cows prematurely slaughtered:
The government promised in 2021 to end intensive badger culling by 2025 but is now expected to consult on replacing it with “epidemiological culling”, whereby every single badger in an area could be culled based on epidemiological evidence.
The current culls require more than 70% of a local badger population to be killed rather than wiping out the entire population.
“The badger is a complete scapegoat and distraction,” said Peter Hambly, executive director of the Badger Trust. “We need to work with farmers because they need more support to understand the risks and transmission routes of bTB.
“The main ways to deal with bTB are cattle measures, and we need a more rigorous, focused approach and we need farmers, vets and the rural community with us. Reduced cattle movements, improved biosecurity and ultimately much better cattle testing and cattle vaccination will have the best effect on bTB in everyone’s interests.”
Some of us have been saying this for years. As the Guardian says, the main cause of cattle TB is other cows, with scientists estimating that on average about 94% of infections flow from cow to cow, and just 5.7% of infections from badger to cow and despite 10 years of badger culling in England, there is no scientific consensus on whether it has reduced cattle TB.
The UK Government needs to change course, and quickly.
