The Government updated its position on the Badger cull at the end of January 2021 with a confusing and contradictory statement .... see here.
After their, initial response, the Badger Trust have now further commented on the Government's approach as follows on their website ....
Badger Trust remains unconvinced that bTB policy
consultation gives any reprieve to Badgers.
Review of Government statement and consultation approach fails to indicate any significant change to the expected further slaughter of over 100,000 Badgers in coming years.
Further to an initial holding reaction to the Government’s announcement of a consultation into their ‘”bovine Tuberculosis (bTB) eradication policy” – the driver for the culling of Badgers in England since 2013 – Badger Trust has further reviewed the details provided. This release gives a deeper dive into the matters at hand, and the reasons for our position of remaining unconvinced that there is any reprieve for Badgers in sight. The top portion of this release provides the headline overview, and the following section gives the more comprehensive review.
Headline overview:
Whilst Badger Trust would welcome any sign that the Badger cull is coming to an end it remains unconvinced that the Government’s recent statement, or the details held in the new consultation, indicate anything other than its continued commitment to the mass killing of Badgers.
Despite the Government saying that no new licences will be issued after 2022, this does not mean that Badger culling stops at that point.
Badgers will continue to be killed for a significant number of years after that date. Whilst it's not possible to know what licences will or won't be issued in 2021 and 2022, or how these – and the licences already in progress – will be extended by supplementary licences, we can take an educated guess based on what has happened to date.
Dawn Varley, Acting CEO, said:
“The Government has claimed ‘not to want to continue killing Badgers indefinitely’ since the culls started in 2013, whilst year-on-year increasing the number of Badgers killed and expanding the areas where culling takes place.”
She continued:
“Badger Trust cannot see in this latest set of proposals that there is any meaningful intention for a reduction in the number of Badgers killed over the next four years, with a distinct possibility of 20 new intensive cull licences being issued over the next two years, and the further possibility of 11 new supplementary licences this year. There are already expressions of interest for thirteen new cull zones in 2021 alone.”
Badger Trust believes that culling is likely to continue until 2027, but it
could continue to 2030 if the currently permitted five years of supplementary
culling post intensive cull (four years) continue as part of the 2021 and 2022
licences.
“Whilst it is impossible to know with certainty how licencing will unfold in the next two years, we estimate that the number of Badgers still to be killed could be between 100,000 - 140,000. This means that the Government is only around half way through killing Badgers at this point.”
The recently announced 2020 figures added 38,642 Badgers killed, taking the total since 2013 to 140,991. Add the Badgers still to be killed, and this could lead to an overall total of 280,000.
A recent survey on Badger numbers in England and Wales put the estimated population at 485,000 (95% confidence intervals 391,000 - 581,000). The impact of the Badger cull on badger populations is not known in either the short, medium or long term.
Dawn Varley concluded:
“Badger Trust will, as ever, continue to fight to protect and preserve this most iconic, protected wildlife species. We are working on our full consultation response and encourage other relevant interested parties to fully engage with the process. We truly hope this is the last consultation on a bTB eradication policy that falsely puts Badgers in the spotlight.”
The full website statement, including the comprehensive review can be found here.
Stop the cull!
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