Nothing to stop Somerset badger cull pilot scheme now
Controversial West Country pilot badger culls to fight bovine TB are set to go ahead.
Pilot culls in West Gloucestershire and West Somerset, which will see the killing of 70 per cent of badgers in each area, have been authorised by Government agency Natural England after final licence conditions were met, with a third scheme in Dorset being prepared as a reserve to prevent any further delays.
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The two pilot culls were delayed last year in the face of bad weather and the discovery that there were more badgers in the areas than previously estimated. More than 5,000 badgers could be culled during this year’s open season.
The news was given a warm welcome by West Country dairy farmers, but conservationists, including BBC’s Springwatch presenter Chris Packham, former Queen guitarist Brian May and the RSPCA have condemned the move. Labour is also opposed.
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Dr May, who has bought farmland in north Dorset to create nature reserves for his Save Me charity described the move as “an absolute tragedy.”
Environment Secretary Owen Paterson gave the news in a written statement to Parliament, explaining that confirmation that final licence conditions have been met has cleared the way. Culls were postponed amid fears they could not be carried out effectively in autumn last year.
Mr Paterson said: “I know there is great strength of feeling on badger culling, but I also know that we need to take action now before the situation deteriorates even further. We need to tackle all transmission routes of TB using all available tools.”
Bovine TB costs Britain £100million a year and the culls of cattle and restrictions on cattle movements can ruin farming businesses, driving some otherwise successful farmers out of the industry.
But opponents say an independent study commissioned by the Government from experts in the field showed the cull will not work, and may do harm. Mr Paterson maintained that the policy is science-led. The cull is to control, not to exterminate the population in the areas.
RSPCA chief executive Gavin Grant said: “Despite overwhelming scientific, public and parliamentary opposition, the Government seems hell bent on pressing forward with their senseless plans to kill badgers.”
Chris Packham said: “I and the overwhelming percentage of conservationists concerned about the badger cull really do have the utmost sympathy for the farming fraternity, but I govern my life by fact. An independent study set up by the Government and paid for by you and me to the tune of £11million showed that a cull was an ineffective way of controlling TB in cattle. Some of the best scientists put their signatures to a letter saying it won’t work.”
Dr May said: “This hideous cull will cause unimaginable suffering to the badger community, and in ten years’ time the farming community will still be suffering.” He said that most farmers in the Dorset area think Sika deer are a more likely reservoir for TB.
But Trevor Cligg, deputy chair of Dorset NFU, said: “I am very pleased that Dorset is the reserve area as that could put it first in the roll-out of the cull. It is a misconception that most scientists are against the cull. In every other country in the world controlling TB in cattle has involved wildlife.”
He said badgers excrete far more TB bacilli than deer and are far more likely to be moving among cattle than deer. In West Somerset the maximum number of badgers that can be culled is 2,162. In West Gloucestershire the maximum is 2,932.
10 Comments
by Alan19531953
Friday, March 15 2013, 12:29AM
“First note that my name is not 'anonymous'. I am happy to stand up and be counted no problem. I am against the badger 'wipe out' and it's easy to explain why:
If any producer (which includes farmers obviously) states: in order to produce product A then I need to wipe out indigenous species x then I would immediately say 'no thank you sir'.
If on the other hand a producer says ' the production of my product A has inadvertently caused a serious infection in indigenous species x and I need to find a way firstly to put this right, and then seek to modify my production methods so that product A has minimal impact on species x and vice versa' then' I am all ears'. This is acting in a responsible way and saving our environment for future generations to enjoy. It's not about being a 'badger hugger' or any other derogatory term farmers like to employ for anyone who doesn't agree with them. All producers, and this includes farmers, must seek ways to live in harmony with our fellow species on this planet.
A graph recently released shows that the Irish have reduced TB by about half. It also shows that they have not eliminated TB. Far from it. Equally it doesn't show that they have shot some 45,000 badgers i.e. near nigh wiped them out in many areas to achieve this. For me this cost is way too high.
Regards
Alan Myers”
by Alan19531953
Friday, March 15 2013, 12:29AM
“First note that my name is not 'anonymous'. I am happy to stand up and be counted no problem. I am against the badger 'wipe out' and it's easy to explain why:
If any producer (which includes farmers obviously) states: in order to produce product A then I need to wipe out indigenous species x then I would immediately say 'no thank you sir'.
If on the other hand a producer says ' the production of my product A has inadvertently caused a serious infection in indigenous species x and I need to find a way firstly to put this right, and then seek to modify my production methods so that product A has minimal impact on species x and vice versa' then' I am all ears'. This is acting in a responsible way and saving our environment for future generations to enjoy. It's not about being a 'badger hugger' or any other derogatory term farmers like to employ for anyone who doesn't agree with them. All producers, and this includes farmers, must seek ways to live in harmony with our fellow species on this planet.
A graph recently released shows that the Irish have reduced TB by about half. It also shows that they have not eliminated TB. Far from it. Equally it doesn't show that they have shot some 45,000 badgers i.e. near nigh wiped them out in many areas to achieve this. For me this cost is way too high.
Regards
Alan Myers”
by Alan19531953
Friday, March 15 2013, 12:29AM
“First note that my name is not 'anonymous'. I am happy to stand up and be counted no problem. I am against the badger 'wipe out' and it's easy to explain why:
If any producer (which includes farmers obviously) states: in order to produce product A then I need to wipe out indigenous species x then I would immediately say 'no thank you sir'.
If on the other hand a producer says ' the production of my product A has inadvertently caused a serious infection in indigenous species x and I need to find a way firstly to put this right, and then seek to modify my production methods so that product A has minimal impact on species x and vice versa' then' I am all ears'. This is acting in a responsible way and saving our environment for future generations to enjoy. It's not about being a 'badger hugger' or any other derogatory term farmers like to employ for anyone who doesn't agree with them. All producers, and this includes farmers, must seek ways to live in harmony with our fellow species on this planet.
A graph recently released shows that the Irish have reduced TB by about half. It also shows that they have not eliminated TB. Far from it. Equally it doesn't show that they have shot some 45,000 badgers i.e. near nigh wiped them out in many areas to achieve this. For me this cost is way too high.
Regards
Alan Myers”
by Free2opine
Thursday, February 28 2013, 8:02PM
“@Clued -up
Go into the Parliament live website and listen to the Commitee which sat yesterday Weds. at
3 00p.m.Room 15 if my memory serves me right. It will be in the archive. It will give you an insight into how things are coming along (or not ) as the case may be.”
by Clued-Up
Thursday, February 28 2013, 7:47PM
“@Free2opine
"There is NO vaccine yet for cattle. IT HAS ONLY BEEN TRIALLED ABROAD and in laboratories".
A little editing of those 2 sentences seems called for!
There IS a bTB vaccine for cattle, it's been tested in 3 very different countries and has been found to work at least as well as other human and animal vaccines in common use.
It's impossible to believe the tests on a bTB vaccine tested in 3 countries did not include safety tests to check whether milk and meat from the vaccinated animals were safe for humans to eat. There'd be no point in creating a cattle vaccine which failed such basic human safety tests.
What we still need is for the cattle bTB vaccine to be tested here in the UK.
I'd have thought it quite possible to run UK tests on the efficacy of the bTB vaccine without upsetting the EU. All you'd need to do surely is run small herds of "experimental cattle subjects" (kept carefully separate from cattle herds used for milk and meat), vaccinate them and their descendents and then see whether they were able to resist bTB infection. The experimental study would naturally include safety checks on these animals' milk and meat before these products were destroyed.
The cost of running such studies would almost certainly be much lower than the cost of policing the badger cull.”
by Free2opine
Thursday, February 28 2013, 3:54PM
“@alandbailey. There is no vaccine yet for cattle. It has only been trialled abroad and in laboratories. The laboratory tests were not under the conditions that they would come up against in the wild. Also the vaccine has to pass a test which proves that it is safe for human consumption and for various other reasons regarding humans. The vaccine is years away if ever.
If they do find the vaccine is safe and that it works they then need a DIVA test to distinguish between animals that have naturally occurring TB or vaccinated cattle. They could have a passport/tag to show that they had been vaccinated but again this is still being discussed. Again the DIVA tests trials have been fraught with difficulties.”
by alandbailey
Thursday, February 28 2013, 3:17PM
“Could foxes also carry the TB disease - like Typhoid Mary?
There seems to have been a large increase in the fox population, especially since hunting was banned.
I declare an interest as I have lost 33 ducks and 5 hens in 4 seperate attacks in the last 3 years. I would support a fox cull as would many people, even some townies.
Otherwise, if this country had the courage to ignore the EU laws or preferably exit, then the farmers could vaccinate the cattle, even if the meat had to be for home consumption only ( perhaps the price of beef would become more affordable?).”
by alandbailey
Thursday, February 28 2013, 3:17PM
“Could foxes also carry the TB disease - like Typhoid Mary?
There seems to have been a large increase in the fox population, especially since hunting was banned.
I declare an interest as I have lost 33 ducks and 5 hens in 4 seperate attacks in the last 3 years. I would support a fox cull as would many people, even some townies.
Otherwise, if this country had the courage to ignore the EU laws or preferably exit, then the farmers could vaccinate the cattle, even if the meat had to be for home consumption only ( perhaps the price of beef would become more affordable?).”
by Clued-Up
Thursday, February 28 2013, 1:19PM
“"Nothing to stop Somerset badger cull pilot scheme now" - REALLY???
Around 92% public oppose the cull and the opposition comes from all sectors of the community - including MPs, scientists, the middle classes, animal activists, naturalists, the RSPCA and the wildlife trusts, leading public figures such as Sir David Attenborough et al. Working in collaboration with each other, these various individuals and groups can do a great deal to stop the cull.
The internet means we're able to communicate more easily and effectively with each other - which helps in organising joint projects - and social media means any video clips of injured badgers or protesters will instantly go viral.
The pro-cull group has a very tiny, very fragile power base - the temporary support of two embattled, ineffective ministers in what is a failing and deeply unpopular government. They can be defeated.”
by nickthompson
Thursday, February 28 2013, 8:49AM
“Shame that we cannot have a similar cull at Westminser.”