Since 2013, it is believed that around 230,000 badgers have been killed in extensive culls across the UK to tackle Bovine TB according to the Badger Trust an organisation opposed to the culling. The UK government which has insisted on the badger culling at all stages estimates that between 70% and 90% of badgers in each cull area will need to be removed which would result in the culling of approximately 280,000 badges by 2025.
These are huge numbers and of course animal advocates have fiercely opposed culling as a cruel and ineffective process, harming an important native species. Farmers have supported the culling because they want to protect their cattle from bovine TB which they believe comes from infected badgers.
However, the effectiveness of the culling in reducing the spread of Bovine TB is disputed. In fact, some studies suggest that culling may actually increase the risk of transmission while others have found no clear effect.
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So, after all these years and after all this killing, we now have a news item online (PA Media) which tells us that badger vaccination trials in tackling bovine TB are working successfully. The trials were led by farmers. It’s a small-scale badger vaccination trial led by farmers in Cornwall and instigated by a farmer: Keith Truscott.
It’s been a four-year scheme with badger vaccinations on 12 farms. A farmer approached the local wildlife trust about badger vaccination as an alternative to culling. Pleasingly, the trial shows that it can be “practicable, technically effective and acceptable to farmers”.
Blood testing of badgers showed that Bovine TB fell from 16% of the population – as I understand it at the beginning of the scheme – to 0% at the end of the scheme.
The people conducting the vaccination process were able to trap and vaccinate 74% of local badgers. This is a higher percentage than those that have been culled on a per square kilometre basis indicating that it is a practical, humane alternative.
The farmers involved in the vaccination scheme report increased enthusiasm for vaccination as a method to control Bovine TB.
The previous Conservative government had ample opportunity to carry out trials on vaccinations. This scheme was conducted by farmers voluntarily outside of, it appears, government controls or administration. It is a farmer-led initiative. It should have been a government-led initiative in the interests of animal welfare.
The new Labour government has pledged to work with farmers to eradicate Bovine TB. They want to end the ineffective badger cull. It appears that they admit the culling of badgers is ineffective but thankfully they now have a trial which strongly indicates that vaccination is effective so animal advocates hope that the Labour government takes up badger vaccination as a method and extend it across the rest of the country.
It appears that some farmers still remain sceptical about the role of vaccinations. They are unsure that it’s effective but that scepticism may have come about due to previous evaluations. Animal advocates would hope that this current trial shifts their opinions.
Apparently, small-scale illegal culling of badgers can worsen the spread of the disease. This vaccination trial was implemented by the Zoological Society of London, Cornwall Wildlife Trust and Imperial College London.
The next logical phase would be to conduct wider ranging vaccination trials and for this the government should intervene to support them financially.
Keith Truscott, founder of the Mid Cornwall Badger Vaccination Farmers Group and senior author on the report said:
“We need a solution to tackle bovine tuberculosis – as a cattle farmer, I’m living with the constant worry that one of our cows might test positive for the disease, so doing nothing is not an option. I sleep better at night knowing that there are people out there working to eradicate the disease through vaccination. I’m proud to be part of this project, and even more so to have instigated it.”
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Why not vaccinate the cows? If they are vaccinated then the cows should be immune to the TB badgers carry. Are they killing the badgers so the cost of doing the cows isn’t passed on to the farmers? Or is it the vaccine on cows doesn’t work. What’s the deal killing all the badgers? I guess it’s expected since they kill the fox. Seems a lot of this is just to give hunters something to kill…
The killing of badgers was probably down to pressure from farmers and a lot of farmers are insensitive to animal sentience. And the government didn’t care enough. All those deaths were unnecessary in my opinion. It is horrible. I think the farmers don’t believe that cow vaccinations work effectively. This is about farmers and they are not great animal advocates. They’d rather just shoot the badgers which has proved ineffective. I despair.