This in from the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust. In their own words. Ed
Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust welcome the Government’s announcement that the plan to expand the badger culling trials into 10 new areas has been abandoned.
This is a clear acknowledgement of the Wildlife Trust’s long held position that badger culling would be neither effective nor humane, a position supported by Defra’s own independent assessment of the trials.
Failed trial culls should be scrapped
The Wildlife Trust is, however, appalled that the two failed trial culls in Gloucestershire and Somerset will be able to proceed but without independent oversight. In our view there is absolutely no justification for these culls to continue and the Government should accept the independent panel’s view and cancel them immediately.
We also note that the Government has announced plans to roll out a badger vaccination programme in areas on the edges of the most infected areas.
John Durnell, Head of Conservation, Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust said,
“We welcome the recognition of badger vaccination as a valuable tool but we fully reject claims that the deployment of injectable vaccine is not practical. There are 13 Wildlife Trusts across the country already demonstrating that it can be. Thanks to the generous support of our members, the Wildlife Trust has already embarked on a programme of vaccination on our nature reserves in areas of highest risk. We await further announcements regarding funding for the vaccination roll out.”
Prioritise badger vaccination
The TB strategy must prioritise badger vaccination, alongside a comprehensive package of cattle measures: better biosecurity, stricter movement controls, improved TB testing and development of a cattle vaccine.
As livestock and farm owners ourselves, the Wildlife Trust recognises the devastating impact that Bovine TB has on farming communities and we have always pushed for the development of effective ways of reducing these impacts. One of the real tragedies of the focus on a failed badger culling experiment has been the delay in action in devising effective ways of reducing the impact of Bovine TB.
If you would like to donate to support the Wildlife Trust’s work in reducing the risk of Bovine TB in badgers please visit our website
Image: shirokazan under CC BY 2.0
