• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • About Us
    • FAQ
    • Meet the Team
  • Contact us
TLE ONLINE SHOP!
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
NEWSLETTER
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home News Environment

Badger culling rolled out to 11 new areas despite Government pledge to phase it out

"You will be remembered as the prime minister who presided over the greatest slaughter of a protected animal in living memory."

Joe Mellor by Joe Mellor
2020-09-07 15:36
in Environment, News
Credit;PA

Credit;PA

FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmailWhatsapp

Licences have been granted for badger culling in 11 new areas of England as part of efforts to control tuberculosis in cattle, the Government has announced. Licences have also been re-authorised for 33 areas of the country where culling has already taken place in previous years.

Government agency Natural England has issued licences for 11 additional areas, alongside re-authorising licences for 33 areas of the country where culling has already taken place in previous years.

The latest expansion of the cull comes despite the Government signalling its intention to gradually phase out badger culling to tackle TB in livestock.

On Sept 2 environmentalist Chris Packham tweeted “If your government @BorisJohnson 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.”

If your government @BorisJohnson 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 .https://t.co/sE0VyqIxZh

— Chris Packham (@ChrisGPackham) September 2, 2020

Earlier this year, it was announced that the next phase of the Government’s strategy to tackle bovine tuberculosis in cattle will involve field trials of a cattle vaccine, with work accelerated to deploy it within the next five years.

Culling makes problem worse

Badger culling could actually be making the problem of tuberculosis in cattle worse.

The study indicates the practice drives the surviving creatures to cover 61% more land each month than before the cull began.

RelatedPosts

Over half of people in poverty in the UK are in a working family

Russian pundit gives honest assessment of war in Ukraine in ‘extremely rare moment of candour’

Penny drops for the Express as ex-Sainsbury’s CEO blames Brexit for rising food prices

The latest ‘Tory budgeting trick’ is an absolute corker

Researchers from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and Imperial College London say this means badgers explore new areas as individuals are removed from neighbouring groups and territories open up.

Published in the Journal of Applied Ecology, the research found that badgers also visited 45% more fields each month.

The odds of a badger visiting a neighbouring territory after a cull increased 20-fold, potentially increasing the risk of TB transmission to both cattle and other badgers, according to the scientists.

Lead author and ZSL-Imperial PhD researcher Cally Ham explained: “Badgers spend a large proportion of the night foraging for food above ground, and as culling reduces the size of the population, competition for food will also be reduced.

“We believe this accounts for the reduced activity levels, as well as bold individuals becoming obvious targets for culling and being quickly removed from the population.

“Because culling partly relies on shooting badgers moving around at night, the fact that badgers were active for fewer hours per night could actually be undermining culling efforts to further control badger numbers.”

Professor Rosie Woodroffe, at ZSL’s Institute of Zoology, said: “As badger-to-cattle transmission is likely to occur through contamination of their shared environment, and TB bacteria can remain viable for long periods of time in the environment, the effects of increases in ranging behaviour could create a source of infection for several months – long after the individual badger has been culled.

“In contrast, studies have shown that vaccination prompts no changes in badgers’ ranging behaviour.”

Related – Phasing out of badger culls promised as cattle TB vaccine set to be deployed

Since you are here

Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.

Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.

Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.

If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.

To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.

The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.

The shop can be found here.

You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

Trending on TLE

  • All
  • trending
Abdollah

‘Rescue us’: Afghan teacher begs UK to help him escape Taliban

CHOMSKY: “If Corbyn had been elected, Britain would be pursuing a much more sane course”

What If We Got Rid Of Prisons?

More from TLE

Pay rise – that would have seen MPs on over £85k – frozen amid Covid fallout

2019: The year the world woke up to the climate crisis

Why Firstline workers should be first in line for enterprise technology

Unique investment ideas

Video – Driver attempts to ram group of Black Lives Matter protesters

Heat or eat: Mum lights her house with candles at night to save money

Great Barrier Reef under stress after ‘most extensive coral bleaching ever’

BBC star Nicky Campbell “dreading” Christmas – because his family will fight about BREXIT

Brittany Ferries sound the alarm over impact of Brexit on holidays next summer

Harvey Weinstein given lengthy jail term

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Meet the Team
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.