BADGERS, BTB AND THE WILDLIFE TRUSTS
On 17 th October 2005 John Everitt, Head of Conservation Programmes at The Wildlife Trusts, issued this statement
The Wildlife Trusts will only support the killing of wild animals where this is a ‘last resort' measure and The Wildlife Trusts' guidelines on Killing Wild Animals, 1998 are followed. The Wildlife Trusts support the Wildlife & Countryside Link statement on bovine TB of May 2004, which complements our own position:
Bovine TB:
· The Wildlife Trusts accept that TB in cattle is a significant problem for farming in the UK and that urgent action is required to combat the disease. We particularly recognise the important role that cattle grazing from beef and dairy herds can play in maintaining a biodiverse environment, and the serious disruption and anxiety caused to farmers experiencing a TB herd breakdown
· The Wildlife Trusts believe that any action to address bTB should be based on clear scientific evidence and well reasoned arguments. We welcome a co-ordinated approach to the disease as set out in the Government's Strategic Framework for the Sustainable control of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in Great Britain. A full version of this is available at: www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/tb/pdf/tb-strategicframework.pdf
Badgers and bovine TB:
· The Wildlife Trusts accept that badgers are a potential source of bTB infection in cattle, but, we believe that there is currently no scientific evidence to support the view that badgers have a significant role in the transmission of bTB to cattle in a natural situation or that control of badgers is an effective way of preventing the transmission of bTB from a wildlife reservoir to cattle.
· The Wildlife Trusts believe that disturbance to badger populations can lead to an increase in the spread of bTB. Because badgers are generally highly territorial, movement between populations is usually limited. Scientific studies have shown that because of this low level of movement, the incidence of bTB spread between badger populations is usually limited (1). However, if the population is disturbed through activities such as culling, movement between badger populations is increased. Where there is increased movement between populations there is an increase in disease spread.
· The Wildlife Trusts believe that no further action to control badgers to reduce the incidence of bTB should be considered until work from the Randomised Badger Culling Trials has been completed, the results published and the implications fully evaluated. Any action prior to this would be unscientific and pre-empt the results of the experiment.
· The Wildlife Trusts will review our position on control of badgers to reduce the incidence of bTB in the light of any new scientific evidence.
Bovine TB control in cattle
· The Wildlife Trusts believe that the most effective short to medium term means of controlling bTB in cattle is currently through improvements in cattle testing (including use of the gamma interferon test), stricter movement restrictions (including pre and post-movement testing); and improved husbandry and biosecurity.
· The Wildlife Trusts believe that the most effective medium to long term means of controlling bTB in cattle is through the development of a vaccine for cattle and that this should be resourced as a priority.
REFERENCE
1. Rogers LM et al. (1998) Movement of badgers (Meles meles) in a high density population: Individual, population and disease effects. Proc. Roy. Soc. (Series B) 265: 1269–1372.
Timetable for Trial Reports
The treatments in the Randomised Badger Culling Trial (RCBT) are scheduled by the Independent Scientific Group (ISG) to be completed by the end of November 2005, with some surveying work continuing into 2006. The ISG will present its initial findings (the headline figure of the influence of proactive culling on the number of TB breakdowns in cattle) to DEFRA in spring 2006. This will trigger their initial policy analysis. The ISG will present its final report, including more detailed and further analyses, to Ministers in early 2007. For further details see:
www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/tb/culling/index.htm
The ISG is the group that advises Defra on science in relation to TB in cattle. It recently gave advice to Defra on the NFU proposals for the control of badgers produced in ‘Disease reduction through sustainable wildlife management' which reported that:
‘We have found this task difficult since much of the NFU document is actually based on speculation and anecdotal comment, and many necessary details on their major proposals are lacking'.
They go on to say that: ‘Data from historical localised badger removal operations, and from the reactive component of the RBCT, indicate there is no perceptible benefit of localised culling of badgers on TB incidence in cattle, and it could make the situation worse. By contrast it is only if badgers are eliminated, or virtually eliminated, from extensive areas of countryside, as achieved in Thornbury in the 1970's and more recently in the Republic of Ireland Four Areas Study, that a culling strategy could be expected to reduce TB in cattle.'
Further details are available at: www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/tb/isg/pdf/nfu2.pdf
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