On 13 January, just as our last edition of this e-newsletter went to press, the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) confirmed the go-ahead for the badger cull in north Pembrokeshire. Rural Affairs Minister Elin Jones said that “a limited badger cull will take place in a pilot area of West Wales”.
WAG also stated that “five culls will take place over a limited period each year within the pilot area, which measures approximately 288km². Culling will be carried out alongside strict cattle control measures”
“Thorough evaluation, including a post mortem examination of culled badgers, as well as detailed investigation of each cattle TB incident will be undertaken within the pilot area. Evaluation will also include assessing the impact of cattle movement measures and the social impact on farming families, and any ecological impact within the area. An annual report on the pilot area will also be provided.”
A landowners pack subsequently received by WTSWW confirmed that three of our nature reserves will fall into the cull area.
Whilst the Trust fully support strict cattle control measures, we still oppose the badger cull on scientific grounds and are now working on a new strategy to highlight our concerns.
Some of the current proposals include an exhibition and petition at the Welsh Wildlife Centre, ready for its re-opening in March, and a protest march from the Centre to Cardigan on 10 April. The other Wildlife Trusts in Wales are also working with us on this awareness-raising issue and will be holding simultaneous events across Wales on the same date.
We are also looking into an online petition to complement the paper-based petition to be held at our visitor centres, and producing new in-house literature to state our opposition and the case against the cull, for wider distribution.
We are hoping to organise another series of speakers in a venue in Glamorgan to complement the successful event held at Cilgerran in November, and hope to organise, possibly in partnership with other interested parties, a march through Cardiff later in the year.
We are looking into producing some black and white ribbons that people can wear to express their opposition to the cull and are producing some bilingual ‘No Badger Cull’ car window stickers.
We will continue to work with WAG on alternatives to the cull and are due to meet with Dr Christianne Glossop, the Chief Veterinary Officer for Wales to discuss this matter soon. We will continue to make our opposition to the cull known, and are in contact with other partners who also oppose the action, including Pembrokeshire Against the Cull (PAC) and Save The Badger.
Further details on our planned events and petitions will be available through future editions of this e-newsletter and other Trust publications- so watch this space! Anyone who might be interested in assisting with the organisation of any of the above activities, please contact Lizzie Wilberforce on l.wilberforce@welshwildlife.org or Rob Parry on r.parry@welshwidllife.org
Listening to the scientific evidence and saying no to the badger cull
What is the most reliable and up-to-date evidence on this subject?
The most compressive study into badgers, bovine TB and cattle was conducted by an independent
research group, the Independent Scientific Group (ISG), who were funded by DEFRA. The ISG were a group of expert scientists chosen for their specialist knowledge of badgers, ecology, epidemiology, and statistics. They devised a large scale experiment to assess the effects of badger culling on the spatial distribution of bovine TB infection in badgers and cattle. This experiment took place between over 7 years (1998 – 2005).
How did they study the effects of culling badgers on bovine TB incidence in cows?
They measured the effects of three different treatments on the incidence of bovine TB in cattle:
• Widespread ‘proactive’ culling (as many badgers as possible were killed to maintain low badger densities across the area every year),
• Localized ‘reactive’ culling (badgers were only killed in areas where there were outbreaks of bovine TB in cattle locally),
• No culling (no badgers were killed in these areas).
To ensure that the experiment was reliable, each treatment was replicated ten times in areas covering approximately 100km2, giving a total of 30 trail areas covering 3000km2.
They recorded badger activity and the number of road killed badgers in each trial areas and all culled badgers were examined and tested for bovine TB. Cattle were also tested for bovine TB during routine veterinary surveillance. A total of 11 000 badgers were killed during this experiment.
What did they find?
Proactive culling significantly reduced badger density in all 10 trial areas, and also reduced the incidence of bovine TB in cattle in these areas. However, in the areas adjacent to culled areas the incidence of bovine TB actually increased (Woodroffe et al. 2007. Journal of Animal Ecology. 78, 818-827). Importantly, even in the pro-active culling areas bovine TB was not fully eradicated in cattle despite the continued removal of badgers over many years (Jenkins et al. 2007Journal of Applied Ecology. 44, 897-908).
What did the Independent Scientific Group finally conclude?
“The ISG’s work, much of which has already been published in peer-reviewed scientific journals has reached two key conclusions. First, while badgers are clearly a source of cattle TB, careful evaluation of our own and other’s 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. Second, weaknesses in cattle testing regimes mean cattle themselves contribute significantly to the persistence and spread of the disease. Scientific findings indicate that the rising incidence of disease can be reversed and geographic spread contained, by the rigid application of cattle-based control measures”
(Bourne et al. 2007. Bovine TB: the Scientific Evidence. A Science Base for a Sustainable Policy to Control TB in Cattle. Final Report of the Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB; emphasis added. Available at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/tb/isg/pdf/final_report).
A further study, carried out after the cull, stated that any ongoing benefits of the cull were still only “modest” (Jenkins et al. 2008.International Journal of Infectious Diseases. 12, 475-465). This study also states publicly that significant proactive badger culling prevented only 12 confirmed breakdowns over 6 years (there would be expected to be 130 herd breakdowns per year in the absence of a cull) (Jenkins et al. 2008). From a business point of view, the costs of culling exceeded the savings achieved through reduced incidence of herd break down derived from culling badgers (Bourne et al. 2007; Jenkins et al. 2008). This is clearly unsustainable from an economic point of view
Other Important Information
It has been highlighted many times that many other British species including red deer, fallow deer, fox, [polecat, wood mouse and rat can also all carry bovine TB. Eradicating badgers cannot eradicate bovine TB as it is present in other species. This is scientific fact.
ChristianneGlossop , Chief Veterinary Officer for Wales, offered to meet with staff from the Wildlife Trusts in order to discuss the alternatives to a cull. This is an important opportunity for the trusts to get their message across that a cull is not an appropriate or holistic approach to the eradication of bovine TB and to explore alternatives to controlling this devastating disease.
The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales (WTSWW) knows that bovine TB (bTB) in cattle is a significant problem for farming in the Wales, and that urgent action is required to combat the disease. The Trust as a stock owner recognises the serious disruption and anxiety caused to farmers experiencing a herd breakdown. The Trust particularly recognises the important role that the livestock industry can play in the environmentally-sensitive management of the countryside.
Our Position
WTSWW agrees with the UK Governments Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Select Committee Report on Badgers and Cattle TB (2008) that the following measures must be rigorously enforced to control bTB:
- More frequent cattle testing, with more frequent and targeted combined use of the tuberculin skin test and the gamma interferon test
- The evaluation of post-movement cattle testing
- Greater communication with farmers on the benefits of bio-security measures
- The deployment of badger and cattle vaccines, when they become available
- Continued work on the epidemiology of the disease.
WTSWW fully supports the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) in its undertaking to deliver the above in its TB Eradication Programme.
However, WTSWW wholly rejects the WAG proposal to cull Badgers. The Proposed Intensive Action Pilot Area (IAPA) has highly permeable boundaries, with fragmented land ownership giving an in effective cull over a number of years. The cull therefore is not a cost effective solution as a control measure for combating bovine tuberculosis.
We do believe however that vaccination is a key tool in the eradication of bovine TB. We are very disappointed that the Minister is not proposing the use of vaccination.
What WTSWW Are Doing
- Responding to the WAG consultation, reporting that we wholly reject their proposal to cull badgers
- Continuing to work closely with WAG, to support the development viable alternatives to culling, such as vaccination.
- Responding proactively to related articles in national and local press
- Updating members and interested parties on a regular basis through our website, magazines and newsletters
- Working with the media to promote our anti-cull message
- Launching an 'adopt a badger' scheme to support our work
- Raising awareness of badgers through events and publicity
Further Information
- Wildlife Trusts Wales' consultation response
- Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts (RSWT) position statement
How You Can Help
Come along to our "Saying no to the badger cull" day
During the afternoon of Thursday 19 November we are holding a 'Saying "no" to the badger cull" event at the Welsh Wildlife Centre, Cilgerran. Speakers will include Iolo Williams, Dr Dan Forman from Swansea University and Sarah Kessell, the Trust's chief executive.
Download an English poster here
Be media-aware
We are asking members and interested parties to alert us to any relevant news items or letters in the media, enabling us to make an appropriate response. If you see any letters or articles in your local papers about the badger cull, please would you email the relevant details to info@welshwildlife.org, so that we can respond appropriately. We will need the name and date of the paper, and the section in which the article appears, with the author’s name if possible. Alternatively, you can send a cutting of the article to the Welsh Wildlife Centre office at Cilgerran, Cardigan, SA43 2TB and mark it for the attention of Llinos Richards.
Write to your AM
If you agree with WTSWW's position on the badger cull, you can help by writing to your local Assembly Member. You can find your local AM's contact details via the link below. You may also choose to send a copy to Elin Jones, the AM who approved the cull:
Elin Jones AM, Minister for Rural Affairs, Welsh Assembly Government, 5th Floor, Ty Hywel, Cardiff Bay, CF99 1NA
A letter in your own words will always have the greatest impact, but we have created templates which you can download below if you prefer, and edit if you choose.
In early November 2009, the Tuberculosis Eradication (Wales) Order 2009 is likely to be discussed in the Senedd. We have created a specific template letter (item 2 below) which you can use to lobby your local AM to object to the Order.
Downloads:
- Find your local Assembly Member
- Petition letter template- lobbying your AM to object to the Eradication Order in the Senedd, November 2009
- Petition letter template- general objection to cull