UK Badger cull

fryup

It looks like its going ahead after all........:(

The first pilot badger cull has begun in west Gloucestershire and west Somerset in the UK.
Around 5,000 badgers are expected to be culled over the next six weeks, where two pilot schemes are taking place in an attempt to stop the spread of bovine tuberculosis

http://www.rte.ie/news/2013/0827/470477-badger-cull/

Birdnuts

fryup wrote: »

It looks like its going ahead after all........:(



http://www.rte.ie/news/2013/0827/470477-badger-cull/[/QUOTE]


Badgers are already culled in parts of this country for similar reasons under special licence by the Dept of Agriculture. Local culls appear to have little affect on their overall population. More appear to die on roads than via TB control measures in this country.

OpenYourEyes

Birdnuts wrote: »

Badgers are already culled in parts of this country for similar reasons under special licence by the Dept of Agriculture. Local culls appear to have little affect on their overall population. More appear to die on roads than via TB control measures in this country.

Still not sufficient reason for a cull if a) it's not having a significant benefit and/or b) there are better alternatives that are still practical to implement.

There's debate over a), and between more strict movement and testing for herd with reactors, and pushing more money and effort into an oral vaccine, b) definitely exists.

From talking to ecologists in Ireland, and listening to the debate in England over the last year or two, it really does seem like they're doing it to please the farmers/farming bodies - showing them that they're doing something, and taking any blame off them. Same story here.

Bsal

Here's what Chris Packham thinks of it he studied badgers for over 5 years when he was a bit younger, from his twitter. I have to agree with him

"It is both sad and shameful that when night falls and the setts of southern England stir their gentle folk will be needlessly slaughtered. That in spite of science and public will the wrath of ignorance will further bloody and bleed our countryside of its riches of life. That brutalist thugs , liars and frauds will destroy our wildlife and dishonour our nations reputation as conservationists and animal lovers. So I fear that tonight could be the darkest for British wildlife that we have witnessed in our lives. I feel sick , sad , disempowered , betrayed , angry and crushed by the corruption of all that I know as right. I feel rage."
Please share/RT, and when others sneer or shower scorn for our concern, remember it, because sometime in the future this will come back to haunt. It will be interesting how many will then claim they were 'against it from the start'.

terryduff12

just wondering did they do a big cull when they found bse in cattle it was farmers giving them meat and bone meal cant remember ever hearing about any big cull of farmers, reason there doing it is because the goverment is sick of sending compo to the farmers of cattle with tb.
Should`nt they sarting rounding up bankers and some of them goverment officials who were stealing money from the british public and cull a few of them i don`t think badgers go running arounds farms and make it a point to infect cattle or anything for there own gain.

More often than not its people who cause the problems and the easy solution is to blame an animal. Sure it must be cats and dogs fault for the recession, having to build bigger house for them to stay in with us.

keelanj69

Everything comes back to the bankers somehow. Crafty creatures......... o_O