Improved cattle testing, better financial and mental health support for farmers, and cattle and badger vaccination will more effectively tackle bovine TB in cattle than culling badgers, according to a report.<\/p>\n
The review of evidence by the Badger Trust comes after 10 years of culling in England killed 210,237 badgers, costing \u00a358.8m, without a significant easing of cattle TB.<\/p>\n
The disease costs taxpayers more than \u00a3100m each year, with 20,000 cows prematurely slaughtered.<\/p>\n
The government promised in 2021 to end intensive badger culling by 2025 but is now expected to consult on replacing it with \u201cepidemiological culling\u201d, whereby every single badger in an area could be culled based on epidemiological evidence.<\/p>\n
The current culls require more than 70% of a local badger population to be killed rather than wiping out the entire population.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe badger is a complete scapegoat and distraction,\u201d said Peter Hambly, executive director of the Badger Trust. \u201cWe need to work with farmers because they need more support to understand the risks and transmission routes of bTB.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe main ways to deal with bTB are cattle measures, and we need a more rigorous, focused approach and we need farmers, vets and the rural community with us. Reduced cattle movements, improved biosecurity and ultimately much better cattle testing and cattle vaccination will have the best effect on bTB in everyone\u2019s interests.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bovine TB was first discovered in badgers in 1971 but the disease in cattle surged in England in the wake of the widespread movement of livestock to restock farms after the foot and mouth outbreak in 2001. Scotland is officially bTB free.<\/p>\n
Because badgers were seen as a \u201cwildlife reservoir\u201d for the disease, the government introduced badger culls in western England in 2013, against the advice of their scientists, who concluded after a lengthy trial that culling badgers \u201ccannot meaningfully contribute\u201d to reducing cattle TB.<\/p>\n
The main cause of cattle TB is other cows, with scientists estimating that on average about 94% of infections flow from cow to cow, and just 5.7% of infections from badger to cow.<\/p>\n
The bTB \u201cskin test\u201d used to test cows is notoriously unreliable, missing on average between one in five and one in two infected animals in a herd, enabling undetected infections to continue spreading within herds.<\/p>\n
Despite 10 years of badger culling in England, there is no scientific consensus on whether it has reduced cattle TB.<\/p>\n
Several scientific studies have found culling has had no positive impact. But according to Defra, data suggests that culling has contributed to an overall reduction of approximately 56% in cattle TB incidence rates across the first 52 cull areas after four years of badger culling.<\/p>\n
This analysis has yet to be peer reviewed and published in a scientific journal. An assessment of this finding by Prof David Macdonald of the University of Oxford highlighted the absence of any scientific control and concluded: \u201cThe badger culling component may be delivering something or nothing, and the analysis leaves us none the wiser.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a commentary on the Badger Trust report, Macdonald described the problem of bovine TB as \u201ca wicked one suffused with tragedy (for badgers, farmers, taxpayers and the many people of good faith who have striven to solve it)\u201d. He concluded that the \u00a358.8m spent on culling badgers in England had so far delivered \u201cno quantifiable benefit\u201d but had \u201cburdened the taxpayer and demoralised the farmer\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne could hope for a better return on investment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
A Defra spokesperson said: \u201cOur bovine TB eradication strategy \u2013 which includes badger culling \u2013 has led to a significant reduction in this insidious disease. We are moving on to the next phase of our strategy, including wider badger vaccination, improved cattle testing and the deployment of a cattle vaccine, to help continue our work towards eradicating this dreadful disease.\u201d<\/p>\n
A survey of farmers in the Badger Trust report finds that they remain convinced that badgers are the prime cause of the disease: 85% of respondents were against stopping the badger cull.<\/p>\n
The report\u2019s key recommendations include that the government rolls out the far more accurate Actiphage and Enferplex tests for cattle TB as soon as possible. These tests are likely to see a rise in cattle TB cases being detected and so the report called for more support for \u201cthe psychological health of farmers\u201d as well as improved financial support and \u201ceducational outreach\u201d to boost farmers\u2019 knowledge of bTB epidemiology \u201cso that farmers are aware of the significance of cattle-cattle transmission\u201d.<\/p>\n
The report also calls for the political will to introduce vaccinations for cattle \u2013 which were hailed in 2010 as a solution that was 10 years away. Government field trials of the vaccine and a test to differentiate between vaccinated and infected animals are ongoing. Defra sources suggest the vaccine is still several years away from deployment.<\/p>\n
Labour has pledged to stop culling badgers but it is not clear what measures a future Labour government would introduce to reduce cattle TB.<\/p>\n
Hambly added: \u201cBovine tuberculosis has been a heavily polarised and emotive issue, and we hope that this report will be another step forward in us working together to tackle this disease with stakeholders from all sides of the conversation \u2026 we must collectively work together to achieve a future free from bTB where native wildlife and farming practices can coexist sustainably.\u201d<\/p>\n
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