Yesterday, Natural England issued a licence permitting the control of badgers in West Gloucestershire for the purpose of preventing the spread of bovine tuberculosis (bTB).
As I have written previously here and here, the dairy industry has endured terrible times while trying to cope with this devastating disease. However, we have never been convinced that the best way to help farmers is to force them to foot the bill for a contentious cull that is only expected to reduce outbreaks by about 16 per cent. The 16% figure is a mean figure for the whole of a cull area from para 5 of a Defra report by leading scientists which you can read here.
I think that this is a lot of effort for a small gain. Bovine TB needs tackling properly and we believe vaccination offers the best hope for cattle, badgers and the industry. It is clear that the Defra's Chief Scientist, Professor Sir Bob Watson, agrees. Have a listen to what he says in the video clip which you can watch here.
And there is another reason why there needs to be a broader response. If, after the trials, a cull in all affected areas (39,000 square kilometres in England) is sanctioned then up to 30 per cent of the English badger population could be removed. This reduction through a cull would be unprecedented and would severely affect the conservation status of one of Britain's most-loved mammals.
What's more, there are problems with the design of these pilots. Another Professor (Sir John Krebs) has pointed out that two six week trials will not produce results with any statistical rigour. It is also the case that there will be no testing or analysis of the impact of shooting free ranging badgers on perturbation.
We have taken the decision that this autumn we shall be taking positive steps towards controlling bovine TB by vaccinating badgers on our land at Highnam Woods in Gloucestershire which lies just outside one of the two UK badger trial control zones. While this is a small step, we think this is the best way to both ensure the health of the badgers on our land and act as good neighbours to nearby farmers who could be affected by the forthcoming trial.
If you feel strongly about the issue, there are two current live petitions (here and here) which are encouraging the government to stop the badger cull and think again.
What do you think about yesterday's decision?
It would be great to hear your views.
Peter,it could well be as there are larger herds in UK so it is probably inevitable.
What I would say that proves that badgers are significantly involved in spreading the disease is that there are lots of incidents cropping up with self contained herds that never bought cattle in so breeding there own replacements that get BTB reactors when herd tested,there is no way that cattle movements involved in these cases.