Badgers and bovine TB
A decision on the
cull is expected soon. Write to your MP urgently to call for
a halt to the proposed cull ... here's what we said in our letter.
The Wildlife Trusts are very conscious of the
hardship that bovine TB (bTB) causes in the farming community and
the need to find the right mechanisms to control the disease.
Our work in providing advice to farmers across the UK means we
recognise and value the crucial contribution that
environmentally-friendly farming practices make to wildlife.
The Government will publish its policy on
bovine TB control in 2011, following consultation in 2010 on a
proposed licenced badger cull in affected areas in England. A
review of the scientific evidence regarding the eradication of bTB
in Wales is expected to report to the Welsh Assembly Government in
autumn 2011.
The Wildlife Trusts have concluded from the
available scientific evidence that the Government's proposals for
badger culling in England would be unsuccessful in helping to
control bTB. The science suggests that, if implemented, these
proposals could make the bTB problem worse. This is due to the
'perturbation effect' from culling, causing badgers to range more
widely and increasing the risks of disease transmission.
View the impact of a cull in this diagram.
Read why the Wildlife Trusts oppose the badger
cull here
Dowload further information on vaccination
The Wildlife Trusts believe a number of
different measures are needed to eradicate bovine TB. They
should include:
Badger vaccination - to
prevent disease transmission from badger to badger and from badger
to cattle. Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust will be using an
injectable badger vaccine on ten nature reserves in 2011. We also
urge Defra to continue development of an oral badger
vaccine
Biosecurity - all possible
measures should be pursued to prevent disease transmission between
cattle on-farm. Not all the control measures recommended by
the Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB have been
implemented
Cattle vaccination -
developing a cattle vaccine is the long-term solution to bovine
TB.
Key quotes
'Wildlife
management should be based on evidence and scientific evaluation of
likely outcomes'
Sir David Attenborough
Prof David Macdonald
The Wildlife Trusts, March
2006
'Badger culling can make no
meaningful contribution to cattle TB control in
Britain'
Professor John Bourne, Chairman,
Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB, June 2007
'We now know from reading the
report of the Independent Scientific Group that culling is not a
viable policy option'
Lord Krebs, former Government adviser on
bovine TB, House of Lords, July 2007
'I think it
is scientifically among the worst options they could have
chosen'
Dr Rosie Woodroffe, former member of the Independent Scientific
Group on TB in Cattle, September 2010
Questions and
answers
How could a badger cull make the
bovine TB problem worse?
Badgers typically live in social groups of
four to seven animals with defined territorial boundaries.
Culling disrupts the organisation of these social groups,
causing surviving badgers to range more widely than normal and
increasing the risks of disease transmission. This is known
as the 'perturbation effect'. The Independent Scientific
Group on Cattle TB concluded in its final report (2007) that it was
'unable to conceive of a system of culling, other than the
systematic elimination, or virtual elimination, of badgers over
very extensive areas, that would avoid the serious adverse
consequences of perturbation'.
What are the practical problems
with the Government's proposed badger cull?
In its consultation document, the
Government identifies 12 criteria required for an effective
licenced cull. These include culling for a period of at least
four years and over a minimum of 70% of a land area no less than
150km². The Wildlife Trusts do not believe that all these
criteria can be met effectively and together. There are a
number of practical problems with implementing, enforcing and
monitoring a licenced cull by landowners eg participants in the
cull might drop-out, through changes in land ownership and
tenancy. The final report of the Independent Scientific Group
on Cattle TB (2007) states that 'culling badgers under licence not
only could fail to achieve a beneficial effect, but could increase
the incidence of cattle TB and increase the geographical spread of
the disease, irrespective of whether licences were issued to
individual farmers or to groups'.
What alternative measures could be
taken now?
Vaccination of badgers could form the
central part of a short to medium term strategy to reduce bTB
transmission from badgers to cattle. Studies have shown that
vaccination is effective in significantly reducing the progression
and severity of infection and that vaccinated badgers were
significantly less likely to subsequently test positive for
bTB. On-farm transmission from cattle to cattle and cattle to
badger could also be reduced through effective testing, movement
controls and other bio-security measures (eg badger proof food
stores and feeding areas). The Wildlife Trusts support the
provision of advice, support and incentives for farmers and would
like to see regulation implemented, where possible, to ensure that
measures are followed.
How can we eradicate bovine
TB?
The long-term solution to the bTB problem
is the development of a cattle vaccine. We welcome the
statements in the consultation that a licensed cattle vaccine and a
diagnostic test should be ready by the end of 2012, along with the
proposed change to EU legislation to allow a cattle vaccine to be
used by 2015. Achieving this long-term solution would
ultimately be an effective, efficient, wildlife-friendly way of
controlling the disease.
June 2011