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Government extends badger cull to 11 new areas
The new badger cull areas include Avon, Derbyshire and Shropshire.

Campaigners say decision is a 'huge betrayal of public trust'.

The UK government has issued badger control licences for 11 new areas of England in a bid to control tuberculosis in cattle (bTB).

Government agency Natural England has re-authorised licences for 33 existing areas, alongside licences for 11 additional areas. Wildlife campaigners have expressed dismay at the decision, as the government had previously pledged to phase out the cull in favour of vaccination.

The new cull areas cover the counties of Avon, Derbyshire, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Leicestershire, Oxfordshire, Shropshire, Somerset, Warwickshire, Wiltshire and Lincolnshire.  According to the Badger Trust, the expansion could see an estimated 62,000 badgers culled by the end of 2020.

Environment secretary George Eustice said: “Bovine TB is one of the most difficult and intractable animal health challenges that the UK faces today, causing considerable trauma for farmers and costing taxpayers over £100 million every year.

"No one wants to continue the cull of a protected species indefinitely. That is why we are accelerating other elements of our strategy, including vaccination and improved testing so that we can eradicate this insidious disease and start to phase out badger culling in England.”

Earlier this year, the government set out its intention to ‘phase out’ intensive culling of badgers and instead move to badger vaccination. Responding to the latest decision to expand the cull, Dominic Dyer, the CEO of the Badger Trust, said:

“The decision to expand the badger cull is a huge betrayal of public trust by the government. Rather than phasing out the shooting of badgers in favour of vaccination, the government is now embarking on a mass destruction of the species, which is little more than ecological vandalism on an unprecedented scale.

“In the next three months, the badger cull could kill up to 62,000 badgers across a geographical area larger than Wales. This could result in population collapse with badgers pushed to the verge of local extinction. This is no longer a badger control policy, it’s a badger eradication exercise.”

An open letter in published Vet Record, signed by veterinary surgeon Iain McGill, primatologist Jane Goodall and naturalist Chris Packham, urges Prime Minister Boris Johnson to intervene to prevent the expansion in the badger cull.

 'We applaud your government’s stated aim of phasing out badger culling, but this appears to be in stark contrast to your apparent intention,' they write.

'If you instruct your secretary of state to revoke licences and explore in short order the alternative methods for disease control that we describe, public opinion and sentiment will be with you. However, if your government chooses to continue the discredited and ineffective badger culling policy, you will be remembered as the prime minister who presided over the greatest slaughter of a protected animal in living memory.'

 

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Applications open for MMI research grants

News Story 1
 RCVS' Mind Matters Initiative (MMI) has launched round two of its veterinary mental health research grants.

Researchers have until 11.59pm on Wednesday, 28 May 2025 to apply for a grant for research which reflects MMI's 2025 focus areas.

Only one Impact Grant was awarded last year, and so this year there are two Discovery Grants and one Impact Grants available. Each Discovery Grant is worth £5,000 and the Impact Grant is worth £15,000.

For more information or to apply, email researchgrants@rcvs.org.uk to contact the MMI team.

 

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News Shorts
Germany livestock import ban lifted

The UK government has amended its ban on the import of livestock, meat and dairy products from Germany.

Defra said the decision follows 'rigorous technical assessment' of the measures applied and the current situation. "If the situation changes, we will not hesitate to take necessary action in response to the FMD outbreaks in the European Union to protect our domestic biosecurity," it said.

The ban was implemented in January following an outbreak of foot and mouth disease (FMD) near Berlin. Personal imports of meat, milk and dairy products will remain in place at a country level.