The announcement stated an intention to end the mass culling of badgers through standard 4-year ‘Badger Disease Control’ licences by 2026 (the last new intensive cull licences being issued in 2022), and the reduction of ‘Supplementary’ licences from 4 years to 2 years.

Badgers are protected and so are the setts (burrows) they live in. Under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992, in England and Wales (the law is different in Scotland) it is an offence to: Wilfully kill, injure or take a badger (or attempt to do so).

However, we believe that a badger cull is not the answer. The scientific evidence demonstrates that culling is likely to be ineffective in fighting the disease and, worse still, risks making the problem even worse.

Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium Bovis (M. Bovis). It’s called ‘bovine’ (which means cattle) because it mainly affects cows, although all sorts of mammals can get it, including badgers, rats, foxes, deer and humans.

Dogs living in rural areas are more at risk of coming into contact with badgers or badger setts, and as many know, badgers can carry tuberculosis. Those near dairy or beef farms may get bovine transmission of TB (Tuberculosis) if it is found within the herd.

Incidence and Transmission However, over recent years rates have been rising in the UK cattle herd and the disease is endemic in the badger population, particularly in South West England. The disease can be passed between animals, from animals to humans and between humans.

What is bovine TB? Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is an infectious disease of cattle. It is caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis), which can also infect and cause TB in badgers, deer, goats, pigs, camelids (llamas and alpacas), dogs and cats, as well as many other mammals.

Clarkson: The honey badger does not kill you to eat you. It tears off your testicles. Hammond: It does not! Honey badgers (Mellivora capensis), also known as ratels, are members of the weasel family and not actually badgers.

However scientists have warned that shooting free-running badgers could undermine the benefits of a cull. It could lead to more animals fleeing – and if they are carrying TB there is a risk more cattle outside the culling zone will be infected. So it could make the tuberculosis problem worse, not better.

Badgers and their setts are protected under the Protection of Badgers Act 199212, which makes it illegal to kill, injure or take badgers or to interfere with a badger sett.

How can I help to stop the cull?

1. Contact your MP and remind them that the published science and evidence from Wales is strongly against the cull.
2. When the cull starts, join a peaceful wounded badger patrol by getting in touch with the local patrols that you can find in the Team Badger Webpage.

For the first time, culling – including cage-trapping and “free shooting” – will take place this autumn in Derbyshire, Warwickshire, Shropshire and Oxfordshire, where successful badger vaccination projects are under way. Vaccinating badgers has been shown to reduce bovine TB in badger populations.

2022

The badger culls are being managed, organised and funded by farmers and landowners. The culls are being carefully monitored to test effectiveness, safety and humaneness. These monitoring costs are borne by the government.

Government research has shown that vaccinating badgers can reduce the risk of bovine TB in individual badgers and reduce the transmission of the disease from badger to badger. It is therefore likely that vaccinating badgers could also reduce transmission between badgers and cattle, but this hasn’t been tested.

Number of badgers vaccinated in England in 2019 In 2019, licence holders vaccinated 890 [footnote 3] badgers across England.

Vaccination of badgers with BCG appears to be beneficial in at least two ways: by directly reducing the TB burden in vaccinated individuals [24], [25] and by indirectly reducing the risk of unvaccinated cubs acquiring infection, most likely through a herd immunity effect on this susceptible component of the badger …