1. Badger Bother
To cull or not to cull?

2. Why cull badgers?
Badgers are blamed for spreading the bovine tuberculosis (bTB) disease to dairy cows
. . . by some people

3. What is bovine tuberculosis (bTB)?
Infectious fatal disease
Caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium Bovis
Affects mammals, including cows, badgers, rats, foxes, deer and people

4. The milk can’t be sold 8
Why is bTB a problem?
Cows have to be culled

5. How is bTB spread?
Cows can catch it from other cows as well as from wildlife such as badgers
Badgers can catch it from other badgers as well as from cows

6. Distribution of badgers and TB in the UK
Distribution of badgers and bovine TB in the UK
Badgers
Cases of cattle TB 2006 – 2010
Badger cull areas
2015
Distribution of badgers and TB in the UK
West Gloucestershire
West Somerset
Dorset

7. bTB history
Tuberculin testing suspended due to Foot & Mouth disease (FMD) 
1960 All cattle in the UK tested & reactors culled
1987 Relaxation of cattle testing, slaughter and movement controls, plus intensification of dairy farming

9. bTB history
Tuberculin testing suspended due to Foot & Mouth disease (FMD) 
2013 Pilot culls begin

10. DEFRA (government dept NFU (National Farmers’ Union)
Pilot cull supported by:
DEFRA (government dept
for farming and rural affairs)
NFU (National Farmers’ Union)
Over four years
Badgers shot at night
70% of badgers to be killed
16% fall in bTB
Nationwide if ‘successful’

11. Is cruel won’t work Pilot cull opposed by: Shooting badgers:
Leading scientists
Wildlife societies and
animal protection groups
Most MPs
(voted 147 to 28 against Oct 2012)
Shooting badgers:
Is cruel
won’t work
Protesters at Badger Camp in Gloucestershire

12. Shooting a fleeing badger
humanely is not easy
. . . at night it’s even more difficult

13. The Krebs Trial Randomised badger culling trial
Scientific study into whether
culling badgers reduces bovine TB in cattle
30 areas
10 culled proactively, 10 reactively , 10 not culled
Badgers caught in cages and shot
Incidence of bTB measured on farms inside & outside areas
Reactive culling suspended early after significant rise in infection
More than 11,000 badgers killed

14. Key conclusions
‘Badger culling can make no meaningful contribution to cattle TB control’
[We] ‘recommend that TB control efforts focus on measures other than culling’
Shooting badges upsets their family groups, causing surviving animals to move out of the area, spreading TB further afield.

15. What’s the alternative?
1) Vaccinate badgers against bTB

16. 2) Improve testing of cattle and biosecurity

17. 3) Improve the living conditions and health of cows so they are more resistant to disease

18. Arguments for the cull Something has to be done
32,000 cattle were slaughtered due to bTB in England in 2014 – it’s spreading and costing millions
Something has to be done
Badgers are to blame
Badgers need to be controlled
The Republic of Ireland has been culling badgers since 1984 and the number of cows with TB has fallen dramatically
Culling badgers works
At £700 per animal, vaccinating badgers costs too much compared to shooting
Culling is the most cost effective method

19. Arguments against the cull
Cattle passing the disease to each other is more important than badger to cattle transmission
Badgers are being used as a scapegoat by the dairy industry
Scientific evidence shows that culling badgers is counterproductive
Culling badgers won’t work
Shooting free-running badgers at night is difficult
The cull method is inhumane
Vaccinating badgers is a more effective and humane method of controlling bTB
Cure not kill – vaccinate!

20. Badger cull debate Gloucestershire residents
Three groups campaigning ‘against’ the badger cull:
Gloucestershire residents
Animal welfare pressure group
Wildlife scientists
Three groups campaigning ‘for’ the badger cull:
Somerset dairy farmers
DEFRA (Dept for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
NFU (National Farmers Union)
Your task: to prepare a brief presentation outlining your
case which you will present to the class.

21. To cull or not to cull?
You decide!

22. For more information contact