SF: The issue of bovine TB and badger culling is complex and contentious. Wildlife groups are passionately opposed to the idea that a mass badger cull would control TB in cattle, while angry farmers call for a cull in order to protect their herds and their livelihoods. On February 26, Defra Secretary David Miliband told the NFU conference that the Government was still prepared to cull badgers in order to tackle the spread of bovine TB. Anna Parry reports.

In 1998, Defra set up the Randomised Badger Culling Trial (RBCT), which ran until early 2006.

The trial was overseen by an Independent Scientific Group (ISG) and aimed to measure the effectiveness of culling to control the spread of tuberculosis in cattle.

In the document published as a result of the trial the ISG state that their aim is 'to contribute to and inform wider society on the issues that need to be considered' to understand fully the issues involved in badger culling.

The scientists found that in order to be effective, badger culling would need to be carried out intensively over large areas.

Cases of cattle TB were 31 per cent lower in areas where a mass cull had been carried out but, for reasons unknown, there was a 30 per cent increase in bovine TB in areas adjoining the cull areas. These results were consistent across trial areas.

In the summer of 2006 Defra published the results of a consultation that received 47,000 written responses. It found that 95 per cent of individual respondents were against a badger cull. At present there is no badger culling happening in Britain.

Last autumn Central Science Laboratory (CSL) researchers based at Woodchester Park teamed up with the Veterinary Laboratories Agency to investigate the use of a TB vaccine in wild badgers.

The trial is expected to continue for several years and covers an area of 50 square kilometres between Stroud and Cirencester. Badgers are trapped and tattooed, and some are vaccinated, before being released a few hours later in the place where they were found.

Badger groups have been calling for vaccination for many years but at present it is too soon to know the effectiveness of the vaccination trial.

Since 1975, the Central Science Laboratory (an agency of Defra) has been monitoring a population of wild badgers naturally infected with bovine TB, in an 11km square area of Woodchester Park. The project studies the ecology of badgers and their role in bovine TB, with the aim of finding ways to deal with the problem of TB in cattle.

In the study area badgers are routinely captured before being examined and tested for TB. All badgers are released unharmed so that the project can provide information on a natural, undisturbed population.

There is no evidence that the badgers in Woodchester Park are any more heavily infected than those in other infected parts of SW England.

Researchers have worked closely with the National Trust and other local landowners, to minimise the impact of this work on their businesses.

The project is one of the longest running and most detailed studies of a wild mammal population in Britain and has received international recognition for its contribution to our understanding of bovine TB in badgers.

Early work at the site provided the first indications that culling badgers might be counter-productive because culling encourages animals to move around more.

The researchers also found that badgers often visited farm buildings and they recorded the animals on video eating cattle feed, climbing into troughs and even taking bedding from beneath standing cattle.

This information has been used to help provide advice to farmers on reducing potential risks of TB spread to cattle.

More information is available at www.badgerecology.org The Gloucestershire Badger Group is one of many badger protection groups working in Britain. Its chairman and field officer, Tony Dean, based near Stroud, has for many years been involved in gathering information on the relationship between bovine TB and badgers. He believes that badgers cannot be held responsible for the spread of TB in cattle.

A more likely culprit, he says, is other cattle.

He points out that until the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in 2001, nobody had studied the effect of cattle movement on the spread of bovine TB.

After the outbreak, farms in the north of England and the Scottish borders (areas which had been free of bovine TB) were restocked with cattle from the south west. Outbreaks of TB followed in these areas within a short time.

Based on evidence like this, badger groups have long been calling for mandatory pre-movement testing of all cattle for TB. Last year the Animal Health and Welfare Minister, Ben Bradshaw, announced the TB (England) Order 2006, which introduced pre-movement testing of cattle.

The statistics show that up to the end of 2006, pre-movement testing had found TB in 146 herds in England and 44 herds in Wales. As Tony Dean points out, without testing, infected cattle could have been moved to other parts of the country, taking the disease with them.

Another hope of badger groups is the introduction of the gamma interferon blood test for TB, a test that is more accurate than the skin test currently being used.

Using pre-movement testing and gamma interferon tests they hope that of bovine TB will fall sharply.

Badger groups maintain that badgers are not responsible for TB in cattle and the government has, over the years admitted that in some areas this is the case. An outbreak of bovine TB on the Isle of Man last year could not have been caused by badgers because there are no badgers on the island.

Other animals, including deer and hedgehogs can be infected with TB but the suggestion from Mr Dean is that badgers are the scapegoats for a disease which causes massive financial problems for the owners of infected herds.

For farmers, bovine TB in a herd leads to the farm being shut down, prohibiting any movement of cattle from the farm, except to an abattoir.

This situation can continue for as long as six months, severely damaging the income of the farmer. In the opinion of the National Farmers' Union, pre-movement testing and other measures designed to reduce the spread of bovine TB cause unnecessary inconvenience and cost to their members.

They also believe that these measures fail to address the role of badgers in the spread of the disease.

Most farmers are prepared to contribute to the battle against TB but the NFU states strongly that it is their belief that badgers are the primary cause of TB in cattle.

The farmers' union advocates 100 per cent elimination of badgers within infected, target areas, citing a trial in Ireland which found that cases of bovine TB did decrease in the areas where badgers were extensively culled.

However the scientists who conducted the survey concluded that culling was 'feasible' but 'not viable' due to the excessive slaughter necessary, which is illegal under the terms of the Bern Convention to which Britain is a signatory.

Last week the NFU announced that it would be assisting some of its members to apply for licences to cull badgers.

As many as 700 herds in England and Wales fall to bTB each year.

The disease is primarily transmitted through the respiratory system and the digestive tract.

Bovine TB is costing £100 million a year in compensation and testing.

In recent years there has been a 40 per cent increase of bTB in cattle in the South West.

* Tony Dean is speaking on the lives, loves and habits of the badger at the Stroud Valleys Project on Wednesday, March 14. Please book your place as these talks sell out quickly. Tickets £3 adults, £2 children from 01453 753358.