They didn't quite think it through - again!

I think its just an experiment, wipe out a load of badgers and see what happens.

I dont know enough about TB to comment really, but I do know wiping out wildlife is not the best way to go.
We pride ourselves on being able to overcome many diseases in humans, we dont cull them, so why take it out on the wildlife.
I'm tending to think the cows are infecting the wild badger population.

 

We knew all this before the cull even started.

And yes, badgers don't suffer from bovine tb until the bovines give it too them.

If it were such a problem then we wouldn't have any badgers.

 

They had an experiment in the 1980 in and around Thornbury, Glos
Btb has been around for 40/50 years +, and they still don't know much about how to cure it

Don't forget FOOT AND MOUTH, look how that was spread about the UK

Also (so i've been toled) Isle of man dosen't have badgers but has Btb in cattle

As Pete said,"wipe out all the badgers and see what happens" If they kill all badgers will it stop Btb after a few years,

 

http://www.bovinetb.co.uk/article.php?article_id=139

 

Yes you are right Jiffy, we do have it here, but the island did avoid Foot and Mouth.

Take a look at the following that I found......

http://www.robertsbridgegroup.com/what-we-think/the-amaizing-case-for-badgers/

 

Very informative Sheal

 

£91m compensation to farmers
From the few Badger friendly people I know*, I am sure UK wide there would be enough volunteers to go around and immunise Badgers

The cost of the vaccine and traps would be a lot less than £91m

*Couple of Matelots from the West Country, used to go at weekends Badger watching
Not like the rest of us Beaver seeking

Jack McH

 

I think the countryside is generally managed for and by completely crazy, inbred toffs.

I remember when I was at school and we learned about the management of the moorland, where it was explained that the vast fires that are deliberately started every year are to keep it beautiful by turning it all black and charred so that eventually new stuff can grow where the old stuff has been burnt off. Nothing at all to do with making it easier to walk on and removing hiding places for pheasants and grouse.

I also used to agree with the fox hunt, after all foxes do take livestock, until I learned that the fox that will be hunted is often captured in advance and release with just a few minutes head start, or worse, some are even raised in captivity especially for the hunt (or were, don't know now since the law changed regarding the hunt).

I can't help thinking the badger thing is yet another example of such cruel insanity. I know badgers have their enemies because they steal crops and dig up gardens etc, but given their numbers, I can't see that they pose a big enough problem to warrant government intervention. Domestic sheep are infinitely more destructive. I can only think it must be some sort of sport. Hunting for fun is frowned upon these days, so best create a reason to 'cull' them instead.

 

That's not surprising. They are the cause of most woe.

 

Notwithstanding the conflicting scientific arguments, the 3 things that really get to me are;

1) Thousands of badgers are being shot, but not one of them is being tested for TB.
2) Thousands of badgers are being shot, but only a few hundred are being checked to verify whether they've been killed humanely, and it's the shooters themselves who select the dead badgers to be examined.
3) Despite the 2 trial culls costing £1,000 per badger (including policing costs), there is no trial area for vaccinating badgers at £700 each.

And I get fed up with reading reports like this where people outside the cull area now think it's open season on badgers http://www.thewestonmercury.co.uk/news/badgers_dumped_in_river_as_cull_extended_1_2903166