Badgers and bovine tuberculosis (bTB)

Updated June 2009

The Wildlife Trusts are very conscious of the anxiety and disruption that bovine TB (bTB) causes in the farming community, and the need to find the right mechanisms to control the disease in cattle. 

Our work with farmers across the UK means we are very aware of the contribution that livestock farmers can make to environmentally-friendly land management.

Whilst we acknowledge badgers have a role in the spread of bTB, we do not support badger culling as a method of controlling the disease because the science does not support it and it would be impractical.

We, therefore, welcomed Defra’s announcement - following a consultation process - that it would not go ahead with a badger cull in England (July 2008).

The issue has re-emerged as the Welsh Assembly Government plans to carry out a cull in part of Pembrokeshire in a pilot scheme.  This is opposed by all six Wildlife Trusts in Wales.

The scientific evidence does not support a cull, as the Independent Scientific Group (ISG) on cattle TB showed in its final report (June 2007).  Its firm view was that culling badgers would not solve the problem and could even make things worse.  There has been extensive research on this over decades.

We acknowledge there is no easy ‘quick fix’ to controlling this disease.  We believe it should be tackled through a number of measures including effective testing of cattle, vaccination of badgers and greater biosecurity on farms. 

We welcomed the Government’s announcement to introduce badger vaccination in England (March 2009) in certain areas from 2010.  But more could still be done:

• stricter movement restrictions on cattle including post-movement testing
• proactively encouragement for farmers to improve biosecurity on farms.

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Select Committee report on badgers and cattle TB 

The Wildlife Trusts’ response

27 February 2008

Commenting on the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Select Committee report on badgers and cattle TB (bTB), Stephanie Hilborne, chief executive for The Wildlife Trusts, said:

“This report rightly highlights the need for tighter controls on cattle testing and biosecurity as the way to combat this disease. Far from giving a green light to badger culling, the Committee reinforces the view that badger culling could, in theory, be effective if certain conditions were met. However, we know these conditions are impossible to meet in practice.”

The Wildlife Trusts accept bTB in cattle is a significant problem for farming in the UK and that urgent action is required to combat the disease. The Wildlife Trusts particularly recognise the important role the livestock industry can play in the environmentally-sensitive management of the countryside and the serious disruption and anxiety caused to farmers experiencing a herd breakdown.

The Wildlife Trusts are pleased the EFRA committee agrees 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.

However, The Wildlife Trusts believe that the following conditions the report suggests for badger-culling to be effective are impractical:

• Culling would need to be: over large areas (at least 265sq km, nearly the size of the Isle of Wight) – our land ownership is so fragmented that this would be impossible
• For sustained periods of time (at least four years) – it would be impossible to prevent badgers moving into culled areas for this period of time
• Be co-ordinated – co-ordinating culling amongst so many landowners, particularly when some would not support a cull, would be impractical
• Be carried out competently and efficiently – having so many different landowners and managers carrying our culling means it would be impossible to ensure minimum standards of competence or efficiency
• Be undertaken where there are natural boundaries to dispersal – badgers are known to cross man-made natural boundaries such as major roads and waterways

The Independent Scientific Group, set up by Government to look at this issue, concluded that, because they could see no situation where the conditions could be met, culling provides ‘no meaningful contribution’ and is ‘not cost effective’ as a control measure for combating bovine tuberculosis.

Stephanie Hilborne continued: “Now is the time to throw all our weight behind cattle control measures to deal with this disease and not be side-tracked by further discussions of badger culling.”

Can we combat this disease by cattle control measures alone?

Bovine TB levels in Northern Ireland have fallen by almost 50% since 2002 from a herd incidence of 9.93% to 5.38% in 2007. Statistics suggest that the disease is continuing on a downward trend. This has been achieved through strict enforcement of cattle based control measures and no culling of badgers.

Download report: Badgers and cattle TB: the final report of the Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB Fourth Report of Session 2007–08

Policy Statement: Biodiversity 20060202 Badgers and Bovine TB

Ten years of science swept away
Government’s chief scientific adviser releases new report

Sir David King’s report on bovine TB in cattle and badgers sweeps away 10 years of science, say The Wildlife Trusts.

In June 2007, the Independent Scientific Group (ISG) published its final report which concluded that culling badgers would make no meaningful contribution to TB control.

Following that, it seems that the Secretary of State at Defra commissioned an assessment of scientific evidence relating to badgers and TB in cattle from Sir David King, the Government’s chief scientific adviser. The report of this assessment, Bovine Tuberculosis in Cattle and Badgers, was released on Monday 22 October.  It focuses on the science of TB control measures on badger and cattle interactions rather than the cost effectiveness or practicality of any action.

It concludes that badger culling should be used as a control mechanism in high TB incidence areas, and that culling should cover an area of at least 100km2

Stephanie Hilborne, chief executive of The Wildlife Trusts, said: “Sir David King’s report is a clear attempt to bring culling back on the agenda and flies in the face of science, public opinion and common sense.

“The Independent Scientific Group (ISG) has already given us the definitive scientific view that badger culling provides ‘no meaningful contribution’ and is ‘not cost effective’ as a control measure for combating bovine tuberculosis (bTB).”

The Wildlife Trusts accept TB in cattle is a significant problem for farming in the UK and that urgent action is required to combat the disease. We particularly recognise the important role the livestock industry can play in the environmentally-sensitive management of the countryside and the serious disruption and anxiety caused to farmers experiencing a herd breakdown.

However, The Wildlife Trusts believe the report produced by Sir David King does not provide any new data to inform the scientific debate on badgers and bovine TB. It ignores issues such as the cost effectiveness or practicality of any action and does not provide a balanced view of the issue. It also fails to consider the efficacy of cattle controls which are important mechanisms for controlling the spread of the disease. We do not believe Government should use this report as the basis for future policy on bovine TB.

With no background or terms of reference, this report has been developed behind closed doors despite the significant public interest. We are therefore concerned that it is more about political expediency than science, particularly in the face of overwhelming evidence provided by the ISG in June. The ISG report represents 10 years of science, millions of pounds of research and the involvement of tens of scientists. It concluded:

“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.” And that badger culling is not a ‘cost-effective’ control mechanism.

The Wildlife Trusts believe the following cattle-based control measures must be rigorously enforced to control bovine TB:

• Improved cattle testing (including use of the gamma interferon test) and monitoring of testing
• Stricter movement restrictions including pre and post-movement testing
• Improved husbandry and biosecurity on farms
• Continued research and trials for vaccine development

We also accept that bovine TB is in the badger population and that badgers, along with other native mammals, may act as a reservoir for the disease and a source of bovine TB infection in cattle. We believe that research to reduce potential re-infection from wildlife populations should be progressed, specifically looking at demographic trends behind the perturbation effect and the development of an effective vaccine for badgers.

Web References

http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/tb/isg/pdf/final_report.pdf, and previous scientific papers.

http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/tb/pdf/badgersreport-king.pdf

Incidence of bovine TB in the cattle population

The incidence of bovine TB in the cattle population continues to fluctuate. There was a significant reduction in early 2006 on 2005 levels, and a slight increase following May 2006.

You can help!  Find out how...

You can help by making your views clear to your MP, asking them to write on your behalf to the Prime Minister.  For guidance on how to do this, click here:   PDF version    Word version