New consultation plan raises fears of badger cull extension

Moves that could herald an extension of badger culling to combat bTB in England have been condemned as “futile” and an “unprecedented” attack on nature.

Campaigners have accused Defra of breaking its previous commitments to end the controversial practice in two years’ time by planning to consult on additional culls instead.

The department has declined to confirm its intentions, although it is understood the process could begin this autumn following several pro-culling public statements by its most senior minister.

But although keeping the cull option open is favoured by some vets, critics argue that a new Northern Ireland-based study, which found much higher levels of cattle-to-badger transmission than that of badger-to-cattle, highlights the present policy’s flaws.

One of the most vocal organisations opposed to culling – the Badger Trust – has claimed it was informed of the new consultation plan in talks with Defra officials.

Its executive director Peter Hambly said the department was continuing to use badgers as a “scapegoat” for the disease, and added: “This toxic policy is an assault on nature on a timescale unprecedented in our history.”

Doubts

Although Defra has previously earmarked 2025 as the date when current intensive activity will at least begin to come to an end, increasing doubt has been cast on that position in the past few months.

In her latest public comments on the issue, made during the Royal Welsh Show in July, Defra secretary Thérèse Coffey insisted she would not be bound by an “artificial” deadline, and culling would remain a disease control option if it offered the best solution.

The department has also claimed an evidence review conducted by senior officials showed bTB levels among cattle were 45% lower in areas where three years of culling activity had taken place and 50% lower after four years.

But those claims were initially made in a response to research that argued the cull had been ineffective in reducing disease levels, which Defra itself later issued a correction for.

A departmental spokesperson insisted the correction did not affect the quoted data and claimed its own peer-reviewed research will be submitted to a journal “shortly”.

‘Spurious reasons’

But one of the authors of the paper the department criticised, independent consultant biologist Tom Langton, said the current policy was “completely futile” and claimed Defra had given “spurious reasons” for not releasing its data thus far.

He said: “There is little hard evidence that badgers play a significant role in transmitting bovine TB to cattle at all and evidence is growing that this has all been a huge misconception based on highly questionable and dated science.

“Government plans are in chaos and a new broom is needed to clear out flawed thinking and outmoded approaches.”

The case against culling also appears to have been reinforced by a new study, published in the Microbial Genomics journal, which found that bTB transmission from cattle to badgers was much more common within a 100 sq km “hot spot” area in Northern Ireland than that from badgers to cattle.

Although it urged caution in interpreting its findings, its authors suggested one possible explanation could be the higher density of cattle and lower density of badgers in that area than in other previously studied locations.

It called for further work in other regions to explore the potential for regional heterogeneity, adding: “If substantial heterogeneity is observed, it may be advisable for different regions to adopt bespoke eradication schemes tailored to the prevailing host dynamics in their areas, leading to superior control outcomes.”

Greater focus

Opponents of culling argue much greater focus is needed on preventing bTB from spreading between cattle and lower levels of the disease in both Wales and Scotland, where large-scale badger culling does not take place, show the present policy’s ineffectiveness.

The Badger Trust, which claims the policy has already led to the deaths of 210,000 badgers since its introduction in 2013, said Defra was continuing to target the species “for the sake of it rather than for any good science-based reason”.

But, while trials of a new skin test and vaccination are ongoing, Defra maintains an abrupt end to culling would risk losing the benefits that it maintains have been achieved since the policy was first implemented.

A spokesperson added: “Bovine TB is one of the most difficult and intractable animal health challenges the livestock sector in England faces today, causing considerable trauma for farmers and costing taxpayers over £100 million every year.

“We have always been clear that we do not want to continue the current badger cull longer than necessary.”