Culling may raise bovine TB risk as badgers move to new habitats
BADGER culls may inadvertently spread bovine TB to wider areas, a Governmentcommissioned report has claimed, as authors said farmers were more to blame for the disease than the wild animals.
In February, Michael Gove the Environment Secretary, asked experts to review the handling of bovine TB over the past 25 years.
Although the authors did find that badgers were spreading the disease and culling could prevent some cases, they said “cattle to cattle” transfer was a bigger problem, and that farmers should do more to keep animals off their land and limit the movement of livestock.
They said in some cases, culls could drive animals out of their habitats into areas that previously were not affected. “There is evidence that culling badgers perturbs the animal’s social structure leading to increased risks of herd breakdowns [infections] in adjacent non-culled areas,” the report said.
Official figures show that a total of 19,537 badgers were culled in 2017, but this had only “modest” impacts on bovine TB. The review recommended vaccination tri- als in half of the cull zones.
Speaking at the launch of the report in central London, Sir Charles Godfray, Professor of Zoology at Oxford University, the review’s chairman, said: “No one wants to cull badgers, and there is interest in controlling the disease by non-culling. The review panel are acutely aware of the burden this disease places on the welfare and well-being of farmers and their families, and the distress many people feel about badger culling. There is an unconscious feeling that everything can be blamed on the badgers. It’s wrong to blame wildlife and not make hard decisions in agriculture.”
There has been a six-fold increase in the number of cattle slaughtered because of bovine TB in the past 20 years, with 33,236 killed last year after testing positive, and the authors said there was more infection nationally than previously realised.
Prof Michael Winter, a rural policy specialist from the University of Exeter, said farmers could do more to stop infection, such as putting up fences and ensuring feed was not contaminated.
Ministers will consider the report’s recommendations. George Eustice, the farming minister, said the Government was pursuing a “range of interventions” to limit the disease.
Rosie Woodroffe, a senior research fellow at the Zoological Society of London, said: “All the evidence suggests badger vaccination could potentially contribute to TB control as effectively as culling.” The National Farmers’ Union said culling was the best available option.