Cull decision is shot in the dark
The Wildlife Trusts today express
disappointment and regret in advance of the Government's expected
decision to press ahead with a cull of badgers in pilot areas in
England.
The Wildlife Trusts call on the Government
to put biosecurity and vaccination at the centre of efforts to
tackle this disease and avoid wasting more time and money on a
badger cull.
Paul Wilkinson, Head of Living Landscape
for The Wildlife Trusts, said:
"A badger cull is the wrong tool to
address this serious and complex problem and a distraction from
other measures to tackle bovine TB. An industry-led cull with
open shooting in the countryside is untested and these pilots will
not provide a scientific evaluation of the impact on bovine
TB. The rationale for any cull of native species needs to be
extremely clear and well proven. We do not believe this is the case
with the proposed badger cull."
The Wildlife Trusts believe that Defra should
pursue the following as a matter of priority:
- Support landowners to
improve on-farm biosecurity and the deployment of the injectable
BadgerBCG vaccine;
- Continue to develop
an oral vaccine for badgers;
- Complete development of a
cattle vaccine and secure change to EU regulation
to permit its commercial deployment.
Paul Wilkinson continues:
"The Government's priority should be
preventing transmission of the disease on-farm, through improved
biosecurity, badger vaccination and making swift progress on a
cattle vaccine."
Earlier this year, Gloucestershire Wildlife
Trust was the first non-governmental organisation to begin
deployment of the injectable BadgerBCG vaccine on seven of its
nature reserves. The outcomes from this first year of a
five-year vaccination programme are available in a published report
at: www.wildlifetrusts.org/badgers-and-bovineTB
Contact
information:
Anna Guthrie (Media & PR Manager)
Office: 01636 670075
Mobile: 07887 754659
Email: aguthrie@wildlifetrusts.org
Tanya Perdikou (Media & Campaigns
Officer)
Office: 01636 670057
Mobile: 07887 754657
Email: tperdikou@wildlifetrusts.org
Images are available for use with this news
release. They are granted on a one-time use basis, in
association with this release and the photographer must be
credited.
The Wildlife Trusts has an ISDN line
available for radio interviews. Please contact us to book an
interview.
Notes for
editors:
The Wildlife Trusts (TWT)
wildlifetrusts.org
There are 47 individual Wildlife Trusts
covering the whole of the UK. All are working for an
environment rich in wildlife for everyone. We have more than
800,000 members. Find out more about badgers, bovine TB on
The Wildlife Trusts' web page http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/badgers-and-bovineTB.