Chris Packham backs countrywide protests against Defra as badger cull enters tenth consecutive year

With the unscientific and cruel cull policy in its tenth year, Chris Packham joins other badger champions that are taking a stand.

Badger Trust and badger supporters across the country are again taking a stand against the government's cruel and unscientific badger cull, now in its tenth consecutive year. Death toll figures are already at an eye-watering 176,928 badgers, and there are reports of intensive culling underway throughout the country.

Protests are occurring throughout the 61 (confirmed) cull zones as supporters urge their MPs to see sense and recommend an end to the cull now before badgers are pushed to the brink of extinction.

Recent protests have been seen in many cull zones, including Oxfordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Berkshire, and Hampshire, the constituency of Ranil Jayawardena MP, the newly appointed Secretary of State for the Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). Naturalist and long-term advocate for badgers Chris Packham once again lends his support to the campaign, urging Defra to finally accept that culling badgers to end bovine TB in cattle simply does not work.

Alongside Chris Packham, Badger Groups across England’s cull counties continue to make a stand against the badger cull.

Badger Trust Groups Coordinator, Zoe Egan, explained:

"Taking our campaign right to the heart of the new Defra Secretary’s constituency was bittersweet; delight at welcoming North East Hampshire Badger Group to our network, heartbreak that their county’s badgers are in the cull firing line, like so many tens of thousands across England right now."

Zoe continued: "But in the wise words of Chris Packham, saying “we care” is not enough.

It’s increasingly apparent that badgers are a ‘protected’ species in name only in England, but for the caring, compassionate badger protection movement. Many of these dedicated people have spent the last decade patrolling cull zones, sett checking and surveying, day and night, trying to save badger lives. So, with no end to the badger cull in sight, I urge people to join them and our campaign to Can the Cull.

I urge the government to follow the science and follow in the footsteps of those who count the badger as a protected species that should be treasured, not scapegoated. The focus must be on eradicating bTB, not badgers."

In Oxfordshire, the picture was sombre but impactful as the Oxfordshire Badger Group mascot displayed the fact that 2,294 badgers have been brutally killed there since the culling began. Most popularly known for its historic city of Oxford and the prestigious Oxford University, Oxfordshire county certainly has a darker side, where badgers are unscientifically vilified and eradicated.

In Shropshire, the badger death toll is even higher at a shameful 7,896 badgers legally persecuted by a failing government strategy. Here, Badger Group members and supporters rallied together to take a stand against the cull and urge their MP to commit to more scientific and humane solutions for bTB, focusing on cattle.

In Staffordshire, the protest certainly grabbed attention. Not only did the banner showcase the staggering 13,911 badgers killed in the Staffordshire cull so far, but Stormtroopers also joined their protest! Rich in history and heritage, Staffordshire has been marred by a decade of death for Britain’s iconic native badgers, a history many of the county's residents deeply regret.

And in Berkshire – a newly licensed cull zone in 2021 – members of Binfield Badger Group protested that the first 176 badgers were culled in the county last year. Sadly, there are three more years of the licence to run.

MPs across the country will soon be greeted with Badger Trust postcards and letters from their constituents urging them to halt the badger cull immediately. Mounting public opposition to the controversial and cruel cull is already recognised by MPs as a key political issue.

Overall, the message to MPs across England is clear: Can the Cull and focus on a bTB strategy that actually works.

Badger Trust urges MPs to be guided by history and science. In the 1960s, bTB was almost eradicated through the implementation of cattle biosecurity measures. Now an alarming 20-33% of farmers claim they would never implement these measures. Why? Because the badger scapegoat came along.

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