Fears for badgers as Welsh cull looms

A North Yorkshire wildlife expert, who is nursing two orphaned badger cubs back to health, fears plans to cull the protected species in Wales will set a dangerous precedent for all wildlife.

Jean Thorpe, of Norton, near Malton, is looking after two young boar cubs found at separate locations on the coast near Whitby.

One had an infected abscess on its ear, thought to have been caused by a bite from a dog and is being treated with antibiotics. Both cubs were found in broad daylight – a time when nocturnal animals like this should be sleeping in their setts below ground – and no trace of their parents or siblings could be found.

In keeping with the protocol for organisations rehabilitating orphaned or injured badgers, the cubs must be tested for bovine tuberculosis (TB) three times before they can be released back into the wild.

Badgers were first identified as carriers of bovine TB about 30 years ago and if the cubs test positive for the disease they will have to be destroyed. So far, it's good news from their initial test results.

"The cubs are both doing well and their first blood tests showed that they're clear of TB, although we've never had a TB infected badger in Yorkshire," says Jean.

"This means that they can now be moved and mixed with other cubs at a rehabilitation centre. They need to socialise and become part of a family group as it's not good for them to live in isolation. Providing they pass their next two blood tests, in the early autumn the family group will be released into a safe, artificial sett.

"It will be what's known as a 'soft release', which means that they will be fenced in and fed initially. The fencing will be removed once they're settled and able to fend for themselves."

The thought of young cubs like these being culled fills Jean with horror.

"Badger cubs just like these two will be left orphaned and alone by the cull of their family and may themselves be caught and shot.

"The Badger Trust has been fighting plans by the Welsh Assembly for a legal cull of badgers in Wales. But my understanding is that it will go ahead within the next month. It means that badgers will be trapped and shot at their setts.

"The cull will cost millions. Yet there is a lot of evidence to suggest that it will have very little impact on reducing TB in cattle.

"It is extremely worrying to think that they are legally allowed to cull a protected British species. It's hard for me to stomach and sets a very dangerous precedent for wildlife across the British Isles. It has been suggested that TB could be present in the wild boar and deer population, which makes you wonder where this will end.

"TB is not found in the Yorkshire cattle population because it's too cold here, but it thrives in warmer climates.

"I believe that we should be testing cattle for TB before moving them to prevent the spread of the disease. I hope that common sense prevails."

At North Yorkshire Police headquarters this week, Jean's 20 years of dedicated work was recognised with a PAW (Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime) award which brings together all agencies involved in stopping wildlife crime.

A report on the findings of research by the Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB supports Jean's badger argument.

Although the report concluded that "badgers are clearly a source of cattle TB" it also stated that "culling can make no meaningful contribution to cattle TB control in Britain". It blamed "weaknesses in cattle testing regimes" for contributing to the increase in cases and spread of disease, and suggested that this could be reversed through tighter controls on the testing and movement of cattle.

The Badger Trust, a small charity, unsuccessfully mounted a judicial review in an attempt to overturn the decision of the Welsh Assembly.

The pilot cull will take place in an area of West Wales, covering North Pembrokeshire and parts of Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire, where 42 per cent of cattle owners have had at least one case of TB in their herds since 2003.

The Rural Affairs Minister for Wales, Elin Jones, argued: "Bovine TB is out of control and unsustainable, and last year cost the taxpayer nearly 24m in compensating farmers. This is a dramatic rise since 2000, when the compensation bill was just over 1m.

"In 1997, around 700 cattle were culled because of bovine TB. This increased to 12,000 by 2008. We know that cattle and badgers are the main sources of the disease and that, if we want to achieve our aim of eradicating bovine TB, we have to tackle the disease in both species."

CW 22/5/10