End the Cull, Don’t Extend the Cull

Badger Groups to lobby Parliament as disturbing developments in the last week point to a badger cull extension by stealth.

The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Thérèse Coffey, reportedly made remarks at the 2023 Royal Cornwall Show that go beyond even her government’s present policy on badger culling. The Minister’s comments appear to ignore a planned consultation on ‘Epidemiological Culling’ scheduled for this summer.

Referring to government plans to end the ineffective badger cull in 2025, Coffey stated:

“There is no fixed deadline, I know some have been set out, but I’m not doing that.”

The present policy is to stop culling in 2025 and replace it with badger vaccination and more effective measures to deal with bovine TB (bTB), such as enhanced cattle biosecurity by, for example, reducing cattle movements.

Comments reveal plans to continue mass badger culling

The Minister’s comments reveal that the government plans to continue mass badger culling, even though this wildlife catastrophe has little or no effect on bTB rates.

Speaking to the Western Morning News, Coffey confirmed that any decisions made regarding further culls would be led by “evidence and science.”

“I’m led by the evidence and the science, and to be quite candid I’m not keeping to an artificial deadline. I’m not saying that culling will necessarily happen everywhere.”

However, Coffey’s comments are at odds with recent scientific peer-reviewed studies and the examples set by Wales and Scotland.

Wales and Scotland do not cull badgers and reduce bTB more effectively than England

Wales and Scotland do not cull badgers and achieve much lower rates of bTB by focusing on cattle, the primary bTB disease spreaders.

The government’s own data show bTB is spread overwhelmingly from cattle to cattle. Independent scientific studies of government data in cull and non-cull zones show there is no difference in bTB reduction between the two.

And a recent report from a Northern Ireland whole-genome study indicated that “...cattle were likely driving the local epidemic, with transmission from cattle to badgers being more common than badger to cattle.” Yet the government remains obsessed with wiping out an iconic native mammal in a relentless attack on nature that is demonstrably not led by evidence and science.

So a consultation that was meant to look at epidemiological conditions post-2025 is now shown to lack meaning, as the Minister has already made up her mind.

Peter Hambly, Executive Director of Badger Trust, explained:

“The government recently announced it has licensed 29 supplementary badger cull areas this year, adding 11 new cull areas to 18 existing areas, These licences should now be issued for a maximum of two years so, theoretically, mass culling should end by 2025 and focus on cattle measures and badger vaccination.”

Hambly continued:

“Instead, the Minister appears to have changed this policy with one statement. The government said it would hold an open consultation on Epidemiological Culling, but it looks like she has already made up her mind.”

“We need to end the badger cull immediately, not extend it.

“The answer lies with cattle measures. This failed focus on the badger does not help reduce bTB and instead distracts from the mess the government has made.”

End the Cull, Don’t Extend the Cull

Badger Trust is joining badger groups from all over the country to lobby Parliament about the badger cull on 12 July 2023.

Hambly added:

“Representatives from local badger groups across the country will lobby Parliament on 12 July to show that the British people are against this attack on nature that is the badger cull. The badger cull needs to be ended, not extended.

The answer for England lies with cattle – this is the major source of the bTB spread. We should follow Wales and Scotland and not cull badgers at all. Their evidence and science-led policies lead to a more focused approach on cattle, which is proven to bring down rates of bTB faster.”

Badger Trust has written to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and Natural England (the licensing authority) to clarify the policy position on badger culling and vaccination in light of these developments.

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