No more politics
I wish you’d ignored the election rather than subjecting us to the weasel-words of the politicians (Agenda Analysis, April). You asked: “What would you do to tackle bovine TB in cattle?” It was the Tories who bowed to pressure and ignored scientific advice to carry out the ineffective cull. “Should the ban on neonicotinoids be made permanent?” The Tories opposed the ban originally. “Should some marine areas be fully protected reserves?” Mark Carwardine highlighted the Tory government’s halting of marine-reserve designation very early in their rule. Rather than allowing the well-groomed, evasive politicians to pretend to answer the question, I would welcome a reasoned analysis of facts with examples that allow us to judge their record. was clear. Scotland has been TBfree since 2009 with four-yearly herd testing – I suppose any herds with TB were destroyed until TB was eradicated. Are the badgers in Scotland also free of TB? If not you would think there would be instances of TB in Scottish cattle if badgers transmit TB to cattle.
This poses another factor in the debate. If the badgers have not been culled or inoculated against TB and they are free of TB, does it point to the possibility that cattle contaminate badgers with TB? Do what the Scots did and stop TB in cattle and we’ll stop the needless slaughter of badgers. This giant batik was designed and created by the Key Stage 2 pupils at St James Church of England Primary School, West Malvern.
It was entered into the Global Canvas Competition entitled ‘We can heal our world’ hosted by The David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation. Our batik details some of the rare and protected wildlife and plants of the Malvern Hills. It is being taken down to the Natural History Museum later this month for final judging. column for BBC Wildlife Magazine (April). I have been a subscriber for several years, and his column was often the first page I would turn to. His love of nature and passion for conservation shone through in all of his articles. I enjoyed his writing, and found it to be thoughtprovoking and occasionally controversial.
I hope that he will be able to return and write the occasional article. I also hope, like Richard, that the magazine will find a place for exploring the links between nature and culture.
The children started to create this by drawing and learning about a host of local flora and fauna. In doing so their awareness was raised about the wildlife that we have here on our doorstep. Share pictures on our forum: www.discoverwildlife.com all manner of writing. Recent favourites include “tufted ducks patrolling in police-car colours”, “ducks dunking like biscuits in tea” and “Egyptian geese the colour of beans-on-toast throb like mad Pharaohs”. Thank you, Richard; it’s quite a legacy.