http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/feb/19/badger-cull-linked-to-rise-in-bovine-tb-cases
‘Stop the Cull’ finds number of herds with TB outbreak, in Dorset cull zone and at its edge, increased after badger killing began.
Steven Morris, Friday 19 February 2016.
The government’s controversial badger cull has led to a rise in the number of cases of tuberculosis found in cattle in one of the programme’s key geographical areas, say animal rights activists.
Rather than the number of cases of bovine TB falling among herds in and on the edge of the badger killing area in Dorset, they have been increasing, it was claimed. The campaign group Stop the Cull suggests this was due to “perturbation”, referring to the way culling may disrupt badger social groups, leading probably to more widespread roaming (including migration into cull areas), and consequently the disease spreading.
The claims came as the government announced that Natural England had received 29 applications or expressions of interest from farmers’ groups wanting a badger cull in their area. Natural England said the various areas ranged from a total of 52 sq miles to up to 252 sq miles. The areas were in Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Somerset, Wiltshire, Worcestershire and Cheshire. There has been no decision on the number of cull areas for 2016.
Stop the Cull, which has championed direct action against the government’s programme, has analysed official figures recording outbreaks of bovine TB in Dorset, where culling began in the autumn.
The precise location of the cull zones are not released because of security concerns, but the group believes its activists have accurately mapped the boundaries. Within those boundaries 14 herds are currently infected with bovine TB and the “breakdowns” or outbreaks began before the cull started. But 18 herds became infected after the start of the cull.
Around the edge of what Stop the Cull says is the zone, there are three continuing “breakdowns” that began before the cull – but eight that started afterwards.
Jay Tiernan, spokesperson for Stop the Cull, said: “Farmers were repeatedly warned by scientists that killing badgers could make the situation far worse for them. They ignored that advice and are now reaping what they have sown.”
Defra said it did not have the official analysis of the cull on bovine TB levels in Dorset but claimed investigation of the first culls in Somerset and Gloucestershire showed that perturbation had not occurred in these counties.
A Defra spokesperson said: “Our comprehensive strategy to eradicate bovine TB through tighter cattle controls, improved biosecurity and badger control, is delivering results and we are on track to deliver TB freedom to more than half of the country by the end of this parliament. TB poses a huge threat to our farming industry and has cost £500m over the last decade. However badger control in the south west has been successful and we are enabling it to take place over a wider number of areas.”
The government insists that the risk of perturbation has been reduced through the use of natural geographic barriers or introduction of measures such as fencing.
Chris Cheeseman, a badger ecologist and expert on bovine TB, warned that both sides – the anti-cull lobby and the government – cherry-picked figures to suit their case. But he added: “It is entirely possible that the apparent increase in herd breakdowns both inside the Dorset badger cull zone, particularly around the edge of the area, is due to the disruptive phenomenon of perturbation. This is where the disruption caused by culling to the badger population actually exacerbates the spread of TB among both badgers and cattle.”
Cheeseman argued that it would be impossible to determine the impact of badger culling on its own because there were many other factors, such as improvements in farm biosecurity, which could have an impact on cattle TB rates.