BADGER SLAUGHTER

I was shocked to read Rosie Wood’s item about badgers in British Wildlife last month[1]. Rosie, who has worked for Defra and Natural England, is Chair of the Badger Trust[2].

I used to be more involved in badgers, their conservation and their controversial relationship with farming and bovine tuberculosis. Recently, other topics have taken up my time but I was horrified when I read that over 247,880 of these popular, social and emblematic mammals have been shot in culls that have been going on since 2013. I thought we had made progress in reducing the horrific government badger culling programme, but apparently not.

This is all the more dreadful when there is a vaccination available. Vaccination is a focus of TB prevention in Wales[3] but not England. Worse – Defra apparently cannot even say what percentage of any changes to bovine TB can be attributed to their cruel culling policy. It is also a case of badly mixed messaging. After all, badgers have their own law to protect them and their setts (the Protection of Badgers Act, 1992).

The government web site on badger law notes, inter alia, that there is a potential prison sentence of up to six months plus an unlimited fine if you intentionally capture, kill or injure a badger, damage, destroy or block access to their setts, disturb badgers in setts, treat a badger cruelly, deliberately send or intentionally allow a dog into a sett or bait or dig for badgers. Possessing, selling or offering for sale a badger or body parts, or marking/attaching a marking device are also proscribed. It seems this law is disapplied for the cull shooters, in England anyway. Talk about mixed messaging!

Rosie explains the legal problems of objecting to and changing poor wildlife legislation in the UK and how it has affected the Badger Trust and Wild Justice in their fight against this huge scale of badger culling and the difficulties there are in legal challenges. It is a bureaucratic muddle (no surprise there) but little concern seems to be shown for the badgers. On the Badger Trust’s web page, Rosie says “This is not the time to let any setbacks deter us from our goal of protecting badgers, their setts, and the foraging grounds vital for them and other native wildlife.” Quite right. Do read the British Wildlife article.

Betts Ecology recognise the need to control bovine TB but we oppose and contest the violent wholescale culling of badgers: we will not consent to their being shot on any land we own. If setts have to be closed and translocated, it will be done sensitively, under licence, carefully monitored and ensuring protection of the badgers.

[1] British Wildlife, Volume 37, No.2, pp152-3.

[2]https://www.badgertrust.org.uk/ 

[3] https://www.gov.wales/written-statement-statement-tb-eradication-programme