Cull could bring about ‘extinction of the badger’
Not a black and white issue as campaigners protest ‘cruel killing’ in Staffordshire could wipe out creature
MORE than 4,000 badgers could be shot in Staffordshire over the next four months as the controversial cull is expanded into the county.
The Government has granted new licences for badger control in 10 ‘high risk’ areas of England, including parts of Staffordshire, in order to protect cattle from bovine tuberculosis.
Hundreds of badgers have already been killed in neighbouring Cheshire, where a licence was granted last year.
The authorisation letter for Staffordshire says the cull company should aim to kill between 3,184 and 4,321 badgers during the current open season, which ends on January 31.
Ministers say badger control is working, as BTB infection rates have fallen in Gloucestershire and Somerset, where culls have been carried out since 2012.
But it is too early to tell whether culling has worked in other areas.
The decision to extend the scheme has been condemned by campaigners and Staffordshire Wildlife Trust (SWT), who say culling is cruel, expensive and ineffective, and argue that BTB is transmitted mainly between cattle.
SWT, which is currently undertaking a badger vaccination programme, will not allow a cull to take place on its nature reserves.
Chief executive Julian Woolford said: “It is unacceptable that the government has not waited for the results of their own review – which we understand is to be published imminently – before forging ahead with another year of ineffective and expensive badger culling. The badger cull is a dangerous distraction from addressing the main route of BTB transmission in cattle which is between cattle.”
An investigation by campaigners in Cheshire revealed that policing culls in the county has cost taxpayers £831,000, or around £1,000 for each badger killed.
Staffordshire Badger Conservation Group and Staffordshire Against the Cull claim that up to 95 per cent of badgers in the cull zones will be shot over the next four years.
The groups said: “We are highly concerned concerned that those involved in this cull, in this cruel killing of badgets on the scale anticipated will bring about localised extinction of the badger in Staffordshire.
“What this means is the effective elimination of one of our most charismatic mammals from a large area, adding to the problem of an already ecologically impoverished Staffordshire countryside. Today’s children may never get the chance to see a local badger, or marvel at their complex and amazing setts.”
The cull target figures for each area, set by Natural England, reflect the minimum amounts it believes are needed to have an impact on BTB infection rates.
Up to 42,000 animals could be shot across England in the current open season, up from 32,500 last year.
Official figures show that BTB incidence in the Gloucestershire cull area has fallen from 10.4 per cent to 5.6 per cent in year four of the cull, while in Somerset it has dropped from 24 per cent to 12 per cent.
Farming minister George Eustice says this reduction is in line with expectations and shows that the Government’s 25-year BTB eradication strategy is working.
He said: “Today’s figures showing reductions in TB cases in Somerset and Gloucestershire are evidence that our strategy for dealing with this slow moving, insidious disease is delivering results.
“Bovine TB remains one of the greatest animal health threats to the UK. There is no single measure that will provide an easy answer which is why we are committed to pursuing a wide range of interventions to protect the future of our dairy and beef industries and eradicate the disease within 20 years. No one wants to be culling badgers forever so the progress reported today is encouraging.”