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News today (September 11 2019), that the Badger cull in the UK has now been extended to cover 10 more counties, including areas of the Midlands, the South West and Cornwall .

The tone of this article is biased towards the cull.

https://www.fwi.co.uk/livestock/health-w...derbyshire

Derbyshire is excluded. Derbyshire Wildlife Trust "said it was “delighted” that it had fought off the application."
Dr. Jo Smith  chief executive of Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, said: “We will continue to expand our badger vaccination programme to ensure that Derbyshire’s badgers remain healthy and safe from the cull and we’ll use our findings to better inform the government’s strategy for managing bovine TB....."

Meanwhile, a vet says "Badger Culls caused immense pain": Prof Ranald Munro is the ex-Chair of an independent expert group appointed by the government to assess its trials.

He has written to Natural England to say that the policy is causing "huge suffering"

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-49611457
Thank you for drawing attention to this, Tobi. I'm not surprised that the first article is biased in favour of the cull, as it is "Farmers Weekly"! Farmers are all too happy to put the blame on the badgers, when actually it is their own practices which causes BTB to spread: going to markets, where animals are tied up in the proximity of others from other farms; semi-intensive farming, where cows are kept close to each other, especially in winter; poor hygiene on farms, etc. Buying and selling cows from/to other farms is probably the biggest risk, as it introduces an animal to the herd which could be infected (tests are not 100% reliable). Herds which do not buy cattle in (renewing stock by keeping own young cows) tend to avoid BTB altogether.

As I have mentioned on previous threads, Scotland has been BTB free for many years, but has never had a cull. So blaming the badgers just doesn't work.
(09-12-2019, 05:02 AM)LPC Wrote: [ -> ]As I have mentioned on previous threads, Scotland has been BTB free for many years, but has never had a cull. So blaming the badgers just doesn't work.

Precisely. It is proven.
I hear Boris Johnson's girlfriend is very much on the side of the Derbyshire vaccination program, and very strongly opposed to Badger culls.
Of course, the mainstream mind-set (who cannot be bothered to do anything except kill Badgers painfully) now lambasts her for that and tries to blame her for "causing obstructions".....
I can't believe they have extended the cull. It is stupidity to continue to spend money on a cruel and ineffective cull.
If they put their efforts into vaccinating badgers at least the badgers would be safe from BTB. The badgers are getting the disease from the cattle aren't they. They are not the ones spreading it.

Working out better farming practices to prevent the spread of disease would have an immediate good effect. Producing an effective vaccine would have the long term effect of stopping BTB altogether. We have eradicated other diseases through vaccination programs. Why are we not doing it here. The culling is cruel and senseless. 

I wonder about the ecological consequences of killing badgers. Since badgers exist in certain habitats they must have a role in the balance of life in that area. What would happen if they got rid of the badgers. I am not familiar enough with their habits to know what would happen if they were eradicated. There may be some pest that badgers keep under control. We don't really know. This cull is being done without and consideration of the long term consequences. 

As usual we have leapt at the  easiest solution to a problem even if it is the wrong one and even if it may have serious consequences.
When will we ever learn.