Category Archives: Badgers and bTB

Wales Announces Pilot Badger Cull Will Start This Year

The Welsh Rural Affairs Minister this week announced that a pilot scheme to cull thousands of badgers in Wales will start later this year, after the badger breeding season has finished in May. The £9m pilot cull will take place … Continue reading

Posted in Badgers and bTB, Wales, Welsh Assembly | 6 Comments

Badger Vaccination to Begin in 2010

The Secretary of State for the Environment, Hilary Benn, has announced (19 March) that next year will see the implementation of the first stage in Defra’s plan to vaccinate badgers against bovine TB. The disease costs the farming industry millions … Continue reading

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Badger Cull Proposals Rejected

The BBC has this morning reported that the Government has decided not to press ahead with the proposed cull of badgers in England. The formal policy announcement is due on Monday 7 July. The NFU is disappointed by the decision … Continue reading

Posted in Badgers and bTB, Government, Science Policy | 1 Comment

Proposed Badger Eradication in Wales

Welsh ministers are considering introducing a targeted badger cull. Elin Jones, rural affairs minister, has called for a review of the current policy, given that the incidence of TB in cattle has increased in recent years. A report published last … Continue reading

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Badgers and Cattle TB: Final Report of Select Committee Published

The EFRA Select Committee has today published the final report of its inquiry into badgers and cattle TB.  The Committee find that current measures to control the spread of TB are not working and recommends that the Governments’ future policy … Continue reading

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Select Committee Report on Badgers and Bovine TB: Date Announced

The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee has today announced that it is to publish the report of its inquiry into Badgers and cattle TB on 27 February at 00.01am. Advance copies will be available under embargo from 9.30am … Continue reading

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Parliamentary evidence on badgers and bTB

Today at 3.00 pm the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee is taking evidence on “Badgers and cattle TB,” which can be watched live on the internet. The Committee will first take evidence from former members of the Independent … Continue reading

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Chief Science Adviser: Badger Culling

Sir David King, the Government Chief Science Adviser, has published a report on bovine TB in Cattle and Badgers. His conclusion that badger culling is an effective strategy for controlling bTB differed from the Independent Science Groups. Sir David’s assessment … Continue reading

Posted in Badgers and bTB, Wildlife Disease | 1 Comment

Badger Culling and Bovine TB – ISG Report

The Independent Science Group has published its final report to Defra on options for controlling TB in cattle. The ISG found that: “while badgers are clearly a source of cattle TB, careful evaluation of our own and others’ data indicates … Continue reading

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Badgers and bTB

The BES’s Journal of Animal Ecology has published a paper that has important implications for the role of badger culling as part of the strategy to control bovine TB in the UK. According to the authors the evidence suggests that … Continue reading

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