19 Aug 2022
A fresh call for the controversial practice to be halted has been dismissed by Defra, amid a continuing scientific row over the policy.
Allister Webb
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Image © andyballard / Pixabay.
Badgers could be pushed into extinction in some areas of England if a new round of culling, intended to reduce the spread of bTB, goes ahead, welfare groups have said.
Representatives of six leading organisations have called for an immediate suspension of the programme, arguing that the current drought and recent heatwaves have created “desperate” conditions in many areas.
But Defra has refused to back down, insisting the scheme is working despite an ongoing scientific row about the merits of its claims.
Opponents fear a new round of culling activity could begin within weeks and Defra has confirmed it does intend to issue what it claims will be the final round of intensive cull licences this year.
The Badger Trust is now leading calls for a halt to the culling programme after more than 30 leading figures, including vets, academics and former senior civil servants, demanded a moratorium on the practice last month.
The charity, together with senior figures from Born Free UK, Four Paws UK, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) UK, League Against Cruel Sports and RSPCA, has written to Natural England, the body that will decide whether to grant new licences, urging it not to make what they call “a national wildlife tragedy” even worse.
Around 175,000 badgers are estimated to have been killed since the cull programme began in 2013.
The letter read: “We are collectively asking for an immediate suspension of the upcoming cull in intensive zones in light of the impact that extreme weather is having on badgers and their cubs.
“Population levels have fallen and badger clans are in severe distress. Going ahead with an intensive cull under these conditions increases the possibility of local extinction events in areas badgers have thrived for 500,000 years.”
The Badger Trust said parts of Gloucestershire, Somerset, Cornwall, Devon and Dorset are potentially at risk of seeing badgers becoming extinct.
Executive director Peter Hambly said the prospect of extinction was “appalling”, adding: “This severe weather and drought conditions have made the situation desperate in many areas.
“To continue with the intensive cull in these conditions is inhumane with far-reaching consequences for the local ecosystems.”
The intervention comes amid a continuing dispute over the science of the culling programme, which Defra insists has been effective in combating bTB, despite a study earlier this year arguing there had been no impact from the policy.
The row was reignited by a presentation at the International Symposium of Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics in Halifax, Canada on 12 August.
The paper, “An analysis of the impact of badger control on bovine tuberculosis in England”, was given by Colin Birch, lead statistician from the APHA.
Although the full paper has not been published, an abstract, featured on the conference’s website, concluded that, by 2019, reduced bTB levels in areas where the policy was implemented were “significantly associated with time after the start of badger culling”.
Defra said work “remains ongoing” on Dr Birch’s analysis, which is also set to be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal.
A department spokesperson added: “This analysis found a reduction of 60% in TB herd incidence after four years in areas undertaking badger culling, showing our bovine TB eradication strategy is working.
“As a result of the progress made, we can now move on to the next phase of the long-term eradication strategy, including expanding badger vaccination alongside improved cattle testing and a potential cattle vaccine.
“We have always been clear we don’t want to continue the current badger cull longer than absolutely necessary.”
The department has also claimed the analysis contained in a separate paper published by Vet Record in March, for which a rebuttal was issued at the time, had “manipulated data” in a way that prevented the benefits of the policy from being recognised.
But that has been fiercely denied by the authors of the paper, who said the department itself has done what it accused them of.
They argued that a graph in Dr Birch’s paper showed a steep fall in bTB during the first two years of culling, which has previously been acknowledged by Defra as not linked to the policy at all, while similar falls occurred in areas where there was no culling at all.
They are worried Natural England will accept a Defra view of the science they see as “baseless” to grant new culling licences and have called for urgent talks on the issue.
Co-author Tom Langton said the department appeared to be “afraid of the data” they had collected and suggested continued culling could be “unwarranted, even unlawful”.
His colleague, Mark Jones, added: “If Defra’s plan is to remain silent until the culling has started, this is surely a matter of huge concern to the scientific and veterinary community, the public in general and farmers and other stakeholders in particular.
“While the failure [of culling] may be disappointing to those who have promoted badger culling, it is surely vital to stop such an inhumane and ineffective policy immediately, and to focus instead on introducing the measures we know will actually reduce bovine TB among cattle.”
When asked specifically about the call for a suspension, Defra said it had nothing further to add.
