Badger culling in the United Kingdom is permitted under licence, within a set area and timescale, as a way to reduce badger numbers in the hope of controlling the spread of bovine tuberculosis (bTB).
Humans can catch bTB, but public health control measures, including milk pasteurisation and the BCG vaccine, mean it is not a significant risk to human health. The disease affects cattle and other farm animals (including pigs, goats, deer, sheep, alpacas, and llamas), some species of wildlife including badgers and deer, and some domestic pets such as cats. Geographically, bTB has spread from isolated pockets in the late 1980s to cover large areas of the west and south-west of England and Wales in the 2010s. Some people believe this correlates with the lack of badger control.
In October 2013, culling in England was controversially tried in two pilot areas in west Gloucestershire and west Somerset. The main aim of these trials was to assess the humaneness of culling using "free shooting" (previous methods trapped the badgers in cages before shooting them). The trials were repeated in 2014 and 2015, and expanded to a larger area in 2016 and 2017. In 2019, UK-wide policy of badger culling existed, but in 2020, extending the areas in which culls took place to include parts of Oxfordshire, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, and Derbyshire was proposed, with a view to killing some 60,000 animals.
Status of badgers
European badgers (Meles meles) are not an endangered species, but they are amongst the most legally protected wild animals in the UK, being shielded under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992, the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, and the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats.
Arguments for culling
Prior to the 2012/13 badger cull, the government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) stated that badger control was needed because "...we still need to tackle TB in order to support high standards of animal health and welfare, to promote sustainable beef and dairy sectors, to meet EU legal and trade requirements and to reduce the cost and burden on farmers and taxpayers." This report listed these reasons for bTB control:- Protect the health of the public and maintain public confidence in the safety of products entering the food chain Protect and promote the health and welfare of some animals Meet UK international (in particular EU) and domestic legal commitments and maintain the UK’s reputation for safe and high quality food Maintain productive and sustainable beef and dairy sectors in England, securing opportunities for international trade and minimising environmental impacts Reduce the cost of bTB to farmers and taxpayers
Disease
Humans can become infected by the Mycobacterium bovis bacterium, which causes the disease "bovine TB" (bTB). Between 1994 and 2011, 570 human cases of bovine TB were reported in humans. Most of these cases are thought to be in people aged 45 or over, who could have been infected before milk pasteurisation became common in the UK.
One route of transmission to humans is drinking infected, unpasteurised milk (pasteurisation kills the bacterium). European badgers can become infected with bTB and transmit the disease to cattle, thereby posing a risk to the human food chain. Culling is a method used in parts of the UK to reduce the number of badgers and thereby reduce the incidence and spread of bTB that might infect humans.
Once an animal has contracted bTB, the disease can be spread through the sett via the exhalations or excretions of infected individuals. Modern cattle housing, which has good ventilation, makes this process relatively less effective, but in older-style cattle housing or in badger setts, the disease can spread more rapidly. Badgers range widely at night, potentially spreading bTB over long distances. Badgers mark their territory with urine, which can contain a high proportion of bTB bacteria. According to the RSPCA, the infection rate among badgers is 4–6%.
In 2014, bTB was mostly concentrated in the south-west of England. It is thought to have re-emerged because of the 2001 foot-and-mouth disease outbreak, which led to thousands of cattle being slaughtered and farmers all over the UK having to buy new stock. Apparently, undiscovered bTB remained in some of these replacement animals.
Action on eradicating bTB is a devolved issue. DEFRA works with the Devolved Administrations in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland for coherent and joined-up policies for the UK as a whole. The Chief Veterinary Officers and lead TB policy officials from each country meet on a monthly basis to discuss bTB issues through the UK bTB Liaison Group.