Brockwatch

Badger culling: A waste of time and money

Brockwatch press release, 18 June 2007

The final report of the Government's Independent Scientific Group (ISG) on Cattle TB has concluded that “badger culling cannot meaningfully contribute to the future control of cattle TB in Britain”. Furthermore, the report states that “the rising incidence of disease can be reversed, and geographical spread contained, by the rigid application of cattle-based control measures alone.”

The ISG's report is based on the findings of ten years of research. A major part of this was the Randomised Badger Culling Trial, also known as the Krebs Trial or Krebs Experiment after the man who proposed it, Professor Sir John Krebs. The culling trial resulted in the slaughter of nearly 11,000 badgers. Yet the killing of 73% of the badgers across a total of a thousand square kilometres over a period of five years, only prevented 14 new cases of bovine TB in cattle. The ISG warns that badger culling policies would not only be ineffective, but also that “some policies under consideration are likely to make matters worse rather than better.”

The ISG did not concentrate solely on badgers. It also looked at the role of cattle in the spread of bovine TB. It found that “weaknesses in cattle testing regimes mean that cattle themselves contribute significantly to the persistence and spread of disease in all areas where TB occurs, and in some parts of Britain are likely to be the main source of infection”.

The overall conclusion reached by the ISG is that DEFRA needs “to develop disease control strategies, based on scientific findings.” But the Group makes it clear that “implementation of such strategies will require Defra to institute more effective operational structures, and the farming and veterinary communities to accept the scientific findings.” This will be a major challenge, as spokesmen for the farming lobby have already made it clear that they do not accept the findings of the ISG's report.

Steve Jackson, Badger Conservation Officer for Brockwatch, today said: “Some people in the farming community still want to see badgers killed. No doubt their gut feeling is that if badgers have a part to play in spreading bovine TB, then they should be culled just as infected cattle are. But gut feelings are of no use in the battle against TB. This is a complicated issue and to get answers to it we need science. The science shows that cattle are the main source of bovine TB and that the best way to deal with badgers is to leave them alone. DEFRA, vets and farmers must now focus on bovines instead of badgers. If they don't, the scourge of bovine TB will continue to be a blight on the countryside.”

Useful links

Bovine TB: The Scientific Evidence - the ISG's final report. (PDF, 2.5 Mb)

Bovine TB: Independent Scientific Group publishes final report - ISG press release.

Written Ministerial Statement from David Miliband on the publication of the Report of the Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB - Statement by The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Farmers shoulder burden of more Government inaction - Conservative Party.

Badger culling is meaningless, report scientists - Badger Trust press release. (PDF)

Back off badgers - RSPCA.

NFU reacts to ISG report findings - National Farmers Union.

Cull options for TB infected badgers must be examined now - Tenant Farmers Association.

Badger cull 'not cost effective' - BBC News.

Badger cull abandoned after TB report - Daily Telegraph.

Ministers 'knew there would be no cull' - Daily Telegraph.

TB badger cull 'not cost effective' - Guardian.

Why badgers are perturbed - Guardian (opinion by Roy Hattersley).

TB Badger cull 'not cost effective' - Daily Mail.

Badgers set for reprieve over fears a cull would spread TB - Daily Express.

Badger culling "not effective" in cattle TB - Reuters.

'No' to badger cull - Western Morning News.

Time to stop TB whitewash - Western Morning News.

Key findings of the report - Western Morning News.

Bovine TB report criticised - Western Morning News.

Badger cull ban 'is death knell' for dairy farmers - Western Mail.

Wales farmers rubbish badger TB report - NewsWales.

Badger cull will not stop bovine TB - official - Daelnet.

Badger cull not cost effective and would make no worthy contribution to tackling bovine TB, say scientists - Farmers Weekly interactive.

Bovine tuberculosis: FWi special report - Farmers Weekly interactive.

Miliband still open-minded on badger cull - Farmers Guardian.

Tighter cattle controls, but no badger cull – ISG report - Farmers Guardian.

Why culling badgers won't work – summary of ISG report - Farmers Guardian.

Industry vows to continue the fight - Farmers Guardian.

ISG report – is it robust science or just political? - Farmers Guardian.

Damning report and new PM means more delays on bTB - Farmers Guardian.

Culling Badgers Does Not Help Curb Bovine TB - Life Style Extra.

RSPCA: Government must "rule out badger cull once and for all" - politics.co.uk

Badger cull to reduce TB under fire - inthenews.co.uk (note that the image used shows an American badger, Taxidea taxus!)

Response to the DEFRA consultation - a submission made by Brockwatch to DEFRA's public consultation on badger culling, which ended on 10th March 2006. This sets out our reasons for opposing the killing of badgers as a means of controlling bovine TB in cattle.