The Badger cull and this Government of U-turns

After yet another successful evening watching Badgers (see here), I can not even begin to adequately express my anger and disgust at our Government and the continuation and expansion of the Badger cull.

All Governments make an occasional U-turn in policy (the phrase famously associated with Margaret Thatcher in her speech to the Conservative Party Conference in October 1980) in response to new evidence or public campaigning.

However, our current so-called Government has become completely synonymous with multiple and frequent U-turns in its short life span to date, not least in the way it claims to be responding to and tackling the human tragedy that is Covid-19. The self-evident incompetence day after day fails to inspire any trust in its communication strategy or its policy programme, if indeed it ever had a coherent expression of either. There is a complete failure of leadership to put it very mildly although this is hardly surprising when you consider the calibre of the Cabinet.

Even Conservative MPs have a new Whatsapp group entitled, “What the f*** is going on?”.

Putting aside yet another "world beating" claim, namely Johnson's ridiculous "Operation Moonshot", and returning to what is actually happening on planet Earth, we now have a massive Government U-turn on the appalling Badger cull. Yes, indeed, what the f*** is going on?

Photo: Badger at the British Wildlife Centre

The Government is now rapidly moving from Badger control to Badger annihilation as it expands the Badger cull policy to 11 new areas of England in 2020.

In March 2020, arising from the Godfray Review, the Government announced that it would commit to non-lethal control of Badgers, phase out culling of Badgers and move towards bovine TB vaccination in both Badgers and cattle.

The Government has now gone back on its stated commitments and it will now issue licences for the shooting of Badgers in 54 areas in over 28,000 square kilometres of England stretching from Cornwall to Cumbria.

For the first time Badgers will be killed in Derbyshire, Warwickshire, Shropshire, Leicestershire and Oxfordshire. This is despite the fact that successful Badger volunteer-led vaccination projects are being undertaken in many of these areas and many with public funding. Badger culling will also be expanded into the low bovine TB risk area of Lincolnshire for the first time.

Based on the maximum kill figures published by Natural England, up to 62,000 Badgers could be killed by the end of 2020, bringing the total killed since the cull started in 2013 to over 164,000. This will bring the total killed to around 35% of the UK Badger population. It is estimated that the cost to the taxpayer of the Badger cull will exceed £70 million by the end of 2020, taking into account administration, equipment, training, monitoring, policing and legal defence costs.

The 6 counties where Badger culling is taking place for the first time are: Derbyshire, Oxfordshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Shropshire and Warwickshire.

The total 11 additional areas for this autumn’s Badger cull are: Avon, Derbyshire, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Oxfordshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Somerset, Shropshire, Wiltshire and Warwickshire.

Badger culls have previously taken place in the following locations: Avon, Cheshire, Cornwall, Cumbria, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Somerset, Staffordshire and Wiltshire.

This is the biggest slaughter of a protected species in UK history.

As Dominic Dyer, the brilliant CEO of the Badger Trust, has said:

“The decision to expand the Badger cull is a huge betrayal of public trust by the Government. Rather than phasing out the shooting of Badgers in favour of vaccination, the Government is now embarking on a mass destruction of the species, which is little more than ecological vandalism on an unprecedented scale.

In the next 3 months the Badger cull could kill up to 62,000 Badgers across a geographical area larger than Wales. This could result in population collapse with Badgers pushed to the verge of local extinction. This is no longer a Badger control policy, it’s a Badger eradication exercise.

Over 102,000 Badgers were shot under cull licences to date, yet only around 900 were subject to post mortem and bTB tests. Of this number only around 5% were found to be infected with bTB at a stage where they were a danger of infecting other Badgers or possibly cattle. The vast majority of badgers killed under the cull policy are bTB free and their deaths will have no impact on lowering bTB in Badgers or cattle.”

The Badger Trust clearly explains the scientific facts, the clear flaws in the Badger culling programme and the cheaper and more effective alternatives to the Badger cull here.

Fortunately, the Badger cull has not been extended to my home County of Essex (yet) but the Essex Wildlife Trust, of which I am a long-standing member and supporter, has made their position abundantly clear …. see here. 

Hopefully, I will be able to continue to “share the "twilight time" with Badgers" in my area but I am in complete solidarity with the Badger Trust and all the Wildlife Trusts around the UK campaigning for an end to the cull of one of our most beautiful and most loved mammals.

Stop the cull!

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Stay safe, stay well, stay strong, stay connected with nature