Badger Culls Questioned

A leaked report seen by the BBC is said to question the humaneness and efficacy of the pilot badger culls carried out in Somerset and Gloucestershire last year.  An Independent Expert Panel (IEP) was set up to monitor the pilots.  It was commissioned by Government to assess whether shooting badgers was a safe, effective and humane way of carrying out the cull.  But in a leaked report the IEP is said to conclude the number of badgers that took longer than five minutes to die exceeded the 5% limit which was said to be the measure used for humaneness.

The leaked report also appears to show the number of badgers removed fell short of the 70% target which was set.  Initial results from DEFRA estimated that 58% of badgers were removed from the Somerset cull area and 30% in Gloucestershire, after the culls were extended this increased to 65% and 39% respectively.  The IEP did not monitor the extensions and it is said to have concluded the figures were less than 50% in both areas.  The proportion of badgers removed has always been a difficult one to calculate, because different surveys have resulted in a wide variation in the estimated badger population.  Readers will recall the culls were initially postponed due to a sudden increase in the estimated numbers following a further survey.

Following the leaked report, opponents of the cull have called for the Government to abandon the policy.  DEFRA has responded by saying it has not seen the report and that the IEP has not yet submitted the report to Ministers.  It has also said it does not know when the report will be formally published.  DEFRA has also pointed out that the pilot culls were set-up to inform future policy making and that a lot of lessons had been learnt from last year, and furthermore that the report would play a key part in informing future policy decisions. 

Farming Minister, George Eustice, whilst acknowledging that the culling policy is ‘contentious’ he also believes it is a ‘vital’ tool in eradicating Bovine TB, but the Government would wait for the IEP’s report before making a decision soon after.  Many in the farming industry will be slightly reassured by these comments and will also berelying on Owen Paterson to keep his word on the culls.  But there may have to be some changes going forward, especially if the policy is scaled-up (see below) and there is also the question of costs, especially after George Eustice’s comment at the NFU conference in which he said ‘any future culls would have to be industry-funded’.

According to the NFU, more than 30 areas have submitted an ‘expression of interest’ to Natural England to be considered for cull areas.  But former NFU President Peter Kendall said at the recent NFU conference, DEFRA will have to make its decision soon over ‘roll-out’ otherwise there will not be enough time to put things into place for this year.