In the UK there has been a continual issue with tb in the cow population. It is thought that this is spread by badgers. Despite scientific analysis showing that badgers are responsible for an incredibly small percentage of the spread – and that culls will make the badgers more, not less, likely to spread the illness, the government has given in to farming lobbies and has allowed increasingly large culls of badgers.
Last year this cull was allowed to expand by 5000 animals without consultation. This was only discovered through a freedom of information request, and belies the claim that culls are ramping down – far from it, the government has started culling in a further 6 parts of the country.
Areas of the country that have been intensively culled are now largely empty of badgers. Indeed, areas where volunteers are trying to vaccinate the badgers (something that does not increase dispersal and so is far less likely to increase tb rates) found that most of the setts thought to be active are no longer so.
Official figures are not available, but it is estimated that 70,000 badgers were culled last year.
Culling is incredibly expensive, and far greater success would be gained through biosecurity, and stopping diseased animals transferring to new herds.
At the current time there is so much BTB in the wild cattle population, you could kill every badger in the country and not see any impact on the number of cows at risk.
DEFRA stated that these new intensive cull licences will be issued for the last time this year, however, given how many times it has changed this should not give thinking people any reassurance.
