Have your say on the government's targeted badger control consultation
- Badger Trust Staff Team
- May 2, 2024
- 3 min read
A guide on how to respond to the government’s open consultation on the proposal to ‘evolve badger control’.
The government's public consultation to evolve badger control policy is a veiled attempt to expand badger culling to such an extent that badger populations and their ecological importance in our native British countryside may not be able to recover.
This article will help to explain what the consultation is, the impact of these new proposals, and how to respond.
For the last 11 years, the mass culling of badgers has been conducted in England to control bovine TB in cattle, killing over 230,000 badgers —up to half the population of our native badgers. These new proposals are an attempt to ‘evolve’ badger culling. Let’s dive into what that means.
What is the consultation about?
Under the new proposal, badger culling will be conducted in ‘cluster’ areas across England wherever the Chief Vet deems appropriate. These ‘clusters’ can be of any size and in any proximity to other clusters, meaning that huge areas of England could become cull areas.
These clusters will then be managed by organisations set up to manage, and presumably profit, from the cull. The organisation will be given the licence to cull badgers. Next, individuals within a cluster area can ask to cull from that organisation.
There is no limit on the number of badgers that can be culled in a cluster.
It is not clear if the organisation or the individuals will be responsible for counting and monitoring local badger populations – a task notoriously difficult even for the most skilled scientists.
It is also not outlined how these organisations will work together, if at all, to monitor badger populations across cluster areas. Where these areas adjoin or are close by, badgers could be wiped out from significant areas of our country.
The recently released cull figures from 2023 show that licensed cull shooters are running out of badgers to kill.
What is the impact of the consultation’s proposals?
Without badgers, the important role of this ecosystem engineer will be missing from our natural world. Badgers help increase plant diversity by changing the chemical composition of the soil with their digging, their setts provide shelter for other species, and they are natural seed dispersers: have you ever spotted an elderberry tree and wondered how it got there, chances are a badger planted it with its poo!
All our native species depend on the integrity of nature. Most in the UK, including badgers, have been reduced to small numbers in fragmented habitats, where they are vulnerable to illegal persecution, road traffic collisions, and demand for housing and other infrastructure that is leading to insufficient year-round food productivity, and consequent demographic decline.
Not only will the proposals in this consultation be even more devastating to badgers than the policy of the past 11 years, but the government has provided very little evidence on which to form a considered response.
Based on the lack of sufficient information in the consultation, Badger Trust and Wild Justice wrote to DEFRA with key areas of concern, and we requested clarification and additional information. DEFRA has now responded, highlighting the absence of data they hold to form these decisions.
Badger Trust has serious concerns about how badger populations can remain genetically viable and healthy after such a targeted attack on our native species.
How you can respond to the consultation
If, like us, you want to preserve what little is left of our native British wildlife, have your say now and respond to this consultation. All voices are valid and, even if you can only say a little to voice your objections, it all counts towards helping us stand up for badgers.
Please read our briefing sheet for help with how to respond to each question in the consultation.
Download our 2024 Cull Consultation Questions Briefing Sheet
DEFRA has extended its “badger control” consultation by three weeks with a new deadline for responding to the consultation of Monday, 13th May at 23:59.
