The Government’s policy on Bovine TB and badger control in England
Dear Colleague,
In December 2011, the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs published a policy document entitled ‘The Government’s policy on Bovine TB and badger control in England’, outlining its plans to license the culling of badgers by farmer/landowner groups over large areas of countryside, as part of its strategy for controlling bovine tuberculosis in cattle. The policy followed the pledge made in the Coalition Agreement to "…introduce a carefully managed and science-led policy of badger control in areas with high and persistent levels of bovine tuberculosis”. The Coalition Government held two public consultation exercises before publishing its policy; both revealed overwhelming public opposition to the culling of badgers.
The aim of the policy is to reduce the badger population by at least 70% in the first year across cull areas, each of which will be a minimum of 150km2, using a combination of ‘controlled shooting’ of free-roaming badgers with shotguns and rifles, and cage trapping and shooting. Further culling will then maintain the badger population at or below this new level for a further 4 years. If the policy is rolled out to its fullest extent, Natural England has estimated that up to 130,000 badgers could be killed during the life of the policy, resulting in a reduction in the national badger population of up to 30%. DEFRA estimates that the policy could result in an average net benefit of a 16% reduction in the number of new confirmed cattle herd TB incidents across the culled area and adjacent ring over a nine year period.
The policy has received the qualified backing of the British Veterinary Association, although to date the BVA has not surveyed its full membership on the issue.
Thank you for taking the time to complete and return this survey. All responses will be treated in confidence.
