The Badger Trust has reviewed evidence after 10 years of culling in England killed 210,237 badgers, costing £58.8m without a significant easing of bovine TB (bTB).
The disease costs taxpayers more than £100m each year, with 20,000 cows prematurely slaughtered.
The government promised in 2021 to end intensive badger culling by 2025 but is now expected to consult on replacing it with "epidemiological culling", whereby every single badger in an area could be culled based on epidemiological evidence.
The current culls require more than 70% of a local badger population to be killed rather than wiping out the entire population.
"The badger is a complete scapegoat and distraction," said Peter Hambly, the executive director of the trust. "We need to work with farmers because they need more support to understand the risks and transmission routes of bTB. The main ways to deal with bTB are cattle measures, and we need a more rigorous, focused approach and we need farmers, vets and the rural community with us. Reduced cattle movements, improved biosecurity and ultimately much better cattle testing and cattle vaccination will have the best effect on bTB in everyone's interests."
Denne historien er fra January 04, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian.
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Denne historien er fra January 04, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian.
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