Welsh ministers are considering introducing a targeted badger cull. Elin Jones, rural affairs minister, has called for a review of the current policy, given that the incidence of TB in cattle has increased in recent years.

A report published last year by the Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB set up to evaluate the evidence of badger culling pilot schemes concluded that although there was evidence to suggest that badgers are a significant source of TB for cattle, badger culling could make no meaningful contribution to the eradication of the disease. There has as yet been no announcement from Wales as to the scale of the cull proposed.

The BES invites members to comment on this topic.

The EFRA Select Committee has today published the final report of its inquiry into badgers and cattle TB.  The Committee find that current measures to control the spread of TB are not working and recommends that the Governments’ future policy include more frequent testing of cattle, deployment of vaccines when available and greater communication with farmers over the benefits of biosecurity.

The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee has today announced that it is to publish the report of its inquiry into Badgers and cattle TB on 27 February at 00.01am. Advance copies will be available under embargo from 9.30am on 26 February. The report will be available on the Committee’s homepage on the day of its launch.

A Government response is expected within two months of the publication of the Committee’s report.

Today at 3.00 pm the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee is taking evidence on “Badgers and cattle TB,” which can be watched live on the internet. The Committee will first take evidence from former members of the Independent Science Group who oversaw the Randomised Badger Culling Trial. The BES has published research from members of the group in its journals. The ISG final report recommended against a badger cull to control the incidence of bovine TB (bTB). The Committee will then take evidence from the Government’s Chief Science Adviser, Sir David King. Sir David has questioned the findings of the ISG and recommend that a badger cull would help to control the incidence of bTB in cattle.

Sir David King, the Government Chief Science Adviser, has published a report on bovine TB in Cattle and Badgers. His conclusion that badger culling is an effective strategy for controlling bTB differed from the Independent Science Groups. Sir David’s assessment is that:

• Badgers are a clear source of infection for cattle. Reducing the density of badgers in those areas of England where there is a significant level of TB in cattle reduces the incidence of TB in cattle in the same area;
• Removal of badgers is the best option available at the moment to reduce the reservoir of infection in wildlife. But in the longer term, alternative or additional means of controlling TB in badgers, such as vaccination, may become available. Research into these should continue;
• Removal of badgers should only take place in those areas of the country where there is a high and persistent incidence of TB in cattle. The minimum overall area within which badger removal should take place is 100 km2, although increasing the area would increase the overall benefit. Badger removal programmes should be sustained (unless replaced or supplemented by alternative means of control);
• There is some evidence of an adverse effect on the incidence of cattle TB in the area 0.5 – 1.0 km outside the removal area. This may or may not be totally related to the removal programme, and there should be monitoring outside the removal area to detect any such effect. Measures should be taken to limit the risk of such an effect;
• After four years, the badger removal programme should be reviewed.

The Independent Science Group has published its final report to Defra on options for controlling TB in cattle. The ISG found that: “while badgers are clearly a source of cattle TB, careful evaluation of our own and others’ data indicates that badger culling can make no meaningful contribution to cattle TB control in Britain. Indeed, some policies under consideration are likely to make matters worse rather than better.” David Miliband has made an initial statement on the ISG’s findings.

The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee is holding oral evidence sessions on the ISG’s report.

BES Journals have recently published the following papers related to badger culling and bovine TB.

• J. Vicente, et al. (2007) Social organization and movement influence the incidence of bovine tuberculosis in an undisturbed high-density badger Meles meles population. Journal of Animal Ecology.
• R. Woodroffe, et al. (2006) Effects of culling on badger (Meles meles) spatial organisation: implications for the control of bovine TB. Journal of Applied Ecology.

The BES’s Journal of Animal Ecology has published a paper that has important implications for the role of badger culling as part of the strategy to control bovine TB in the UK. According to the authors the evidence suggests that movement of individual badgers between groups may be instrumental in driving disease dynamics at the population level, and adds further support to the contention that the social disruption of badger populations, for example by culling, is likely to promote disease spread. Defra recently consulted on whether badgers should be culled to control the spread of bovine TB. A final decision has not yet been announced.