Further debate over badger cull
Following the issuing of the first culling licence to the West Gloucestershire pilot scheme region, and with a licence due to be issued to farmers in Somerset within days, Lord Krebs, a respected scientific adviser to the government, has spoken out against the proposed cull.
Having been involved in the initial research which showed, over a nine-year trial period, that the spread of bovine TB could be slowed down if more than 70 per cent of badgers in an area could be eradicated, Lord Krebs has now expressed concern that the cull will not be beneficial.
He commented: "I would go down the vaccination and biosecurity route rather than this crazy scheme that may deliver very small advantage, may deliver none. And it's very hard to see how Defra are going to collect the crucial data to assess whether it's worth going ahead with free shooting at all."
However Defra has said that it will use data from precious studies and would commission its own research to estimate badger numbers, and maintains that the cull is necessary to protect cattle from bTB, which results in the slaughter of thousands of cattle each year.
Defra has published guidance for the vet sector ahead of a proposed UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement.
