A short presentation I completed to present to my lecturers and classmates as part of an introduction to my land management degree course which I started in September 2012. I drawn from all my research and decided that I am for the imposing Badger Cull, due to start in 2013.
2. THE BADGER CULL
Reduce Bovine Tuberculosis in British cattle herds
Trial run in worst affected areas of Britain
Carefully managed, science led study
Independent panel to over-see trial
„No alternative‟
DEFRA (2012)
Microsoft Clipart
3. WHAT IS BOVINE TUBERCULOSIS?
All sourced from Microsoft Clipart
Bovine Tuberculosis, Bovine TB, BTB,
TB?
Infectious disease caused by the
bacterium Mycobacterium bovis
(M.Bovis)
The bacterium can also cause TB in
deer, goats, pigs, camelids, dogs, cats
and many other mammals
DEFRA (2012)
4. FACTS & FIGURES
26,000 cattle slaughtered in
2011 as a result of TB
3,688 number of new TB
incidents in 2011 (1.8%
increase on 2010)
11.5% of cattle were under
cattle movement restrictions
in 2011 (23.6% in South
West)
£500 million the amount it
has cost the tax payer in the
past 10 years (£1 billion next
ten years)
£30,000 average cost of a
TB breakdown on a farm, of
which £10,000 falls to the
farmer
DEFRA (2012)
The cull would allow land
owners to cull up to 70% of
the badger population on
their land
BBC (2012)
6. THE SPREAD OF BOVINE
TB
We can see from this diagram
that…
• The disease has spread rapidly
out of control over the past few
decades
• The most drastic increase was
seen at the start of the new
millennium
• The south west including areas of
England and Wales, including
Somerset, Cornwall and Devon is
the worst effected area.
Hone & Donnelly (2008)
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-
images/Guardian/Pix/pixies/2012/9/29/134
8947992834/Bovine-TB-spreading-002.jpg
8. THE ARGUMENT
FOR AGAINST
Badgers can and do carry
bovine TB and can pass it on
to cattle
A scientific review carried out
in 1997 by Professor John
Krebs concluded that there
was “compelling” evidence
for badger-to-cow TB
transmission.
A cull makes scapegoats of
badgers, while not
addressing the main problem
– cow-to-cow transmission.
Between the mid-1930s and
mid-1960s, testing and
removal of infected cattle
pushed national infection
rates down from around four
in 10 to less than one in
1,000.Country File (2012)
Krebs (2008)
Darbyshire et al (2002)
Hone et al (2008)
9. FOR AGAINST
The existing regime of testing
and removal has failed to halt
the rise in cases. While
infected badgers are on a
farm, cattle are at risk.
The cost of compensating
farmers for the removal of TB
reactors keeps growing.
Leading scientists, including
former government advisor Sir
David King, say it would have
a significant effect on reducing
TB in cattle.
Many believe culling
thousands of animals that
are protected under the
Wildlife and Countryside Act
1981 would be unethical.
Improvements to the way
cattle are tested and practical
measures to keep cattle and
badgers apart (such as
electric fences around farm
buildings) would cut infection
rates.
Country File (2012)
Krebs (2008)
Darbyshire et al (2002)
Hone et al (2008)
10. CONCLUSION
Despite large protests it seems the trial will go ahead next year
Until another solution is found, for many the cull will be the only
way
The badger vaccination scheme is currently being trial run in parts
of Glostershire and may also be used by the Government as a
way of stemming the spread of TB.
The badger population has spread to record highs in some areas,
even if badgers aren‟t culled to prevent TB, some feel that
something should be done to manage their population.FERA (2012)
11. REFERENCES
British Broadcasting Corporation. (2012) Taunton Deane Borough Council 'neutral' on badger cull. [online] London:
British Broadcasting Corporation. Available from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-19808962 [Accessed
2nd October 2012].
Country File (2012) Badgers: To cull or not to cull. [online] London: British Broadcasting Corporation. Available from:
http://www.countryfile.com/countryside/badgers-cull-or-not-cull [Accessed 2nd October 2012].
Darbyshire, J. & Campbell, L. (2002) Badgers. 2nd Ed. Moray, Scotland: Colin Baxter Photography.
Hone, J. & Donnelly, C. (2008) Evaluation Evidence Of Associated Of Bovine Tuberculosis In Cattle And Badgers.
Journal of Applied Ecology. 45, 1660-1666.
Krebs, C.J. (2008) The Ecological World View. Victoria, Australia: CSIRO Publishing
The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs. (2012) Animal Diseases- Bovine TB (tuberculosis). [online]
London: Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs. Available from: http://www.defra.gov.uk/animal-diseases/a-
z/bovine-tb/ [Accessed 8th October 2012].
The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs. (2012) Badgers and bovine tb. [online] London: Department
for Environment Food and Rural Affairs. Available from: http://www.defra.gov.uk/animal-diseases/a-z/bovine-tb/badgers/
[Accessed 8th October 2012].
12. REFERENCES
The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs. (2012) Controlling the disease – the Governments approach.
[online] London: Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs. Available from: http://www.defra.gov.uk/animal-
diseases/a-z/bovine-tb/controls/ [Accessed 12th October 2012].
The Food and Environment Research Agency. (2012) Badger vaccine deployment project. [online] London: Department
for Environment Food and Rural Affairs. Available from: http://www.fera.defra.gov.uk/wildlife/ecologyManagement/bvdp/
[Accessed 13th October 2012].
Vicente, J. Delahay, R. J. Walker, N. J. Cheeseman, C. L. (2007) Social Organisation and Movement Influencing the
Incidents of Bovine Tuberculosis in an undisturbed High-Density Badger Meles meles population. Journal Of Animal
Ecology. 76 (2), 348 – 360.
Woods, M. (2010) The Badger. 2nd Ed. Southampton: The Mammal Society.
