Badger Cull and Dorset Wildlife Trust

Dorset Wildlife Trust will be affected by the Badger Cull. This is a news item on their web site and on Twitter. Dorset and Somerset share a County boundary.

Dorset Wildlife Trust condemns badger cull 27th Feb 2013 Dorset Wildlife Trust (DWT) condemns a potential badger cull in the county, announced by Environment Secretary, Owen Paterson MP, as a reserve pilot cull area in case of problems with either of the proposed cull areas in Gloucestershire and Somerset.  DWT is keen to find an effective, long term solution to the problem of Bovine TB (bTB), but urges the Government to put more effort into an effective vaccine instead of a cull.  Simon Cripps, Chief Executive of Dorset Wildlife Trust, said: “We have a great deal of sympathy for farmers who lose stock as a result of bTB and are acutely aware of the problems this disease causes in Dorset.However a badger cull is not the answer and is likely to make the  problem worse by spreading the disease onto farms previously unaffected.” Dorset Wildlife Trust believes bTB should be tackled on multiple fronts, including vaccines for badgers and cattle and use of all possible biosecurity measures to prevent transmission between cattle. The proposed cull area for Dorset is kept a secret.  DWT will not allow badger culling on its nature reserves and is currently preparing plans to vaccinate badgers, using an injectable vaccine as trialled by Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust. Dorset Wildlife Trust calls on the Government to develop the bTB vaccine for cattle and ensure its acceptance by the European Union.  For more information about plans to vaccinate badgers in Dorset, click here.

- See more at: http://www.dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk/article1205.html#sthash.s8KEcFzC.dpuf

Badger control consultation

I've spent some time going through notes on this subject from the SWT, that includes a 13 page report by Liz Deane Chair of the SWT Council in which she reviewed a wide range of published papers and reports on the subject.( Its very comprehensive). Also notes from  the Badger Group and the NFU. Finally I've looked at the DEFRA web site and browsed the extensive set of documents which make up their consultation doc.It all confirmed my view that the proposals are based on so many assumptions based on inadequate research and lack of relevant knowledge  that they are not at all certain to achieve their intended objective. The only certainty is that a large number of animals will be killed many of which will be healthy. 

If you want to see the DEFRA docs they are all available at this link here.

If that doesn't work here is the web address: http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/tb-control-measures/index.htm

I've gone through the 8 questions they invite comment on and here is my response. Qu 1, 7 and 8 are the only ones I have written much about the others are all "No".

Of course we also want to encourage individuals to respond  as they see fit, the more the better regardless of what is said. A bigger post bag means more people are concerned about the subject one way or another.  Here  are my comments with the DEFRA question shown in bold:

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Submission to DEFRA.

Qu 1.  Comments are invited on the options, costs and assumptions made in the Impact Statement.  ( that is Annex F )

The Impact Statement includes many assumptions which are unlikely to prove accurately assessed. Consequently it is not possible to predict a successful outcome and this is not an acceptable basis for killing a large number of animals.

We do not agree with a policy of culling badgers.

We consider such a policy to be unnecessary and not adequately supported by scientific evidence.

The Consultative Doc also shows many areas of uncertainty especially in the culling method statements.

Qu 2  Do you agree with the preferred option? 

No

Qu 3  Do you agree that this approach, of issuing licences to farmers/ landowners, is the most appropriate way to operate a badger control policy? 

No

Qu 4  Do you agree with the proposed licensing criteria for culling and vaccination?

No

Qu 5  Do you agree that the proposed methods of culling are effective and humane?

No

Qu 6  Do you agree with the proposed use of vaccination, particularly its focus on mitigating the perturbation effects of culling?

No , not as part of the culling process.

Qu 7  Should anything further be done to encourage the use of vaccination?

Yes. The use of vaccination should be promoted as the long term sustainable solution. Development of oral vaccine should be given greater urgency. Biosecurity should be strengthened.

Qu 8 Do you agree with the proposed monitoring?

No. We have no confidence that monitoring will be comprehensive enough  to ensure that the proposed procedures will be followed.

Signed and dated

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and  on://twitter.com/#!/levelswildlife
and our diary of events at: http://heart-of-the-levels-diary.blogspot.com/

Badgers. Consultation ends Dec 8th

It was a very interesting and stimulating meeting last night. Aidrian Coward gave a detailed account of the life cycle of a badger and illustrated his talk with excellent photographs and some skulls and other exhibits from his collection which were passed round. It was clear from the audience reaction that badgers have many supporters.
Aidrian ended his talk by informing us about the Government plans for controlling Bovine TB which are currently likely to include the killing of badgers in large numbers, many of whom will be healthy animals. There is so much to know about this subject and Aidrian demonstrated a very detailed knowledge.
Rather than try to recall all that was said including answers to  numerous excellent questions I am giving you a link to the Badger Trust. Click here

 
The Badgers Trust and the Somerset Wildlife Trust are both making similar statements based on an understanding of the scientific work carried out in recent years.

You can read SWT's views on the DEFRA proposals here

And for the sake of completeness here is a link to the relevant DEFRA site, here.
Or use this url:   http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/tb-control-measures/index.htm

Badgers

Need to keep our next public meeting at the top of my Blog.

Just sent a Tweet to help promote the event.   See my Twitter account here


A public meeting on Badgers should be good value for £2.50! Hear the latest news, get answers to your questions. Nov 11,   Somerton 7.30pm.

Adrian Coward, professional ecologist and chair of the Somerset Wildlife Trust Badger Group will be talking about the lives and habitats of badgers.
United Reform Church Hall.West Street, Somerton.

Badgers

Hopefully readers have made their comments on the Natural Environment consultation and can turn their attention to another important issue.

We have organised a public meeting on Badgers on November 18th in Somerton and the subject of Bovine TB is rising up the public agenda. For some that's because the Government is considering culling together with other measures whilst others don't think that will work and is consequently a bad idea. There is a great deal of information on the DEFRA web site to cover all aspects of the subject.
Somerset Badger Group and the Somerset Wildlife Trust have issued a statement to draw attention to public consultation in progress now and concluding on DEC 8th. Here it is.

  

The Government is consulting on proposals to cull badgers as part of a strategy to control bovine tuberculosis.  The Governments preferred option is Option 6:  Issuing licences under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 to cull, vaccinate or carry out a combination of culling and vaccination.

Somerset Wildlife Trust’s response

• Bovine TB is a serious issue for farmers. Government and the farming sector should take a science-led and comprehensive approach to tackling bovine TB, using all available sensible measures to control and eradicate this disease.
• We do not support the current Government proposals for culling badgers, as these are not supported by scientific evidence and will be difficult to implement effectively in practice. Far from helping to control bovine TB, the proposed badger cull could actually make the problem worse.
• The recently available badger vaccine could help to control bTB if used systematically over a period of years.
• All possible biosecurity measures should be enforced on farms to help control spread of the disease.
• The Government must put its energy into removing the barriers to development and use of a cattle vaccine for bTB, with a commitment to bring this into widespread use as soon as possible.

Please respond to the consultation

Make your voice heard to help the Government make the right decision. The Government consultation closes on December 8.   It can be found at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/tb-control-measures/index.htm Post to:           TBBC mailbox                         Nobel House, 17 Smith Square,                         London, SW1P 3JR Email: tbbc@defra.gsi.gov.uk

Please contact the Somerset Trust Badger Group for further information:

Adrian Coward          01749 671065

24/7 Help Line:          07850 604585

Email:                         somersetbadgers@waitrose.com

Badgers Cull background information.

For information here is the summary of the press release issued 18th June 2007 and the report covered seems to be the subject of current press speculation about the UK Government policy on culling Badgers. The policy may be announced on Monday 7th July 2008

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INDEPENDENT SCIENTIFIC GROUP ON CATTLE TB
Chairman: Professor John Bourne CBE MRCVS
18 June 2007
PRESS RELEASE
BOVINE TB: INDEPENDENT SCIENTIFIC GROUP PUBLISHES FINAL
REPORT
The Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB (ISG) today published its Final Report,
Bovine TB: The Scientific Evidence.
The Report describes the outcome of nearly ten years’ work which has provided a broad
understanding of the complex issues involved in the epidemiology of TB in both cattle
and badgers. The potential of badger culling for cattle TB control and the likely
effectiveness of enhanced cattle based control measures have been evaluated.
The ISG has concluded that, although badgers contribute significantly to the cattle
disease in some parts of the country, no practicable method of badger culling can reduce
the incidence of cattle TB to any meaningful extent, and several culling approaches may
make matters worse. The ISG also conclude that rigidly applied control measures
targeted at cattle can reverse the rising incidence of disease, and halt its geographical
spread.
Publishing the Report, ISG Chairman Professor John Bourne said:
“The objective of our work, outlined in this scientific report, has been to seek
scientific truth and to provide clarity on the major issues that need to be considered
for gaining control of cattle TB.”
“We believe that in this Report Ministers now have sufficiently robust and extensive
evidence to enable informed policy decisions to be made. They now have the sound
science they require.”
Concluding, Professor Bourne said:
“After nearly a decade of work we believe that we have fulfilled our original aims
and are now able to provide a comprehensive appreciation of the overall problem.
Our findings will surprise some, and be unwelcome to others.”
“Having shown that the main approach to cattle TB control should be rigorously
targeted to cattle, we hope that the overwhelming scientific evidence we have
provided to support this view, and the policy options we present, will enable the
farming industry and Government to work together in a constructive and cooperative
manner to tackle this very serious disease of cattle which causes so much economic
loss and hardship to cattle farmers”.
Cattle tuberculosis (TB) was almost cleared from Britain in the 1970s but has since reemerged
as a major problem for British farmers. Badgers (Meles meles) were implicated
in spreading the infectious agent (the bacterium Mycobacterium bovis) to cattle and
between 1973 and 1998 cattle-based TB controls were supplemented by various forms of
badger culling.
A scientific review of the issue, chaired by Professor John Krebs (now Lord Krebs) and
completed in 1997, concluded that there was “compelling” evidence that badgers were
involved in transmitting infection to cattle. However, it noted that the development of
TB policy was hampered because the effectiveness of badger culling as a control measure
could not be quantified with data then available. Professor Krebs’ team therefore
recommended the establishment of a large-scale field trial of the effects of badger culling
on cattle TB incidence, to be overseen by a group of independent experts.
The Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB (ISG) was formed in 1998. In addition to
designing and overseeing the Randomised Badger Culling Trial (RBCT), the ISG
identified and initiated a broad array of research related to the diagnosis, pathogenesis,
dynamics and control of TB in cattle and badgers. This report – the ISG’s 6th and final,
formal, report – describes the outcome of this research, which provides a previously
unavailable scientific basis for the design of future TB control policy.