Sentences with phrase «of culling badgers»

Policymakers have adopted the bovine TB management strategy of culling badgers, which are thought to act as a reservoir for the disease.

Not exact matches

The badger cull is a very sensitive and controversial issue with strong views on both sides of the debate.

Firstly the BBC delayed the publication of the ruling until after a critical debate on the future of the badger cull policy in parliament on March 13th.

Also, during the period the BBC Trust redrafted and delayed the ruling, Owen Paterson gave an interview to Channel 4 News stating that the culling of badgers had significantly lowered TB in cattle in Ireland.

The badger cull is one of the most controversial farming and wildlife policies in the last 40 years.

David Cameron has defended the upcoming badger cull, saying it takes «political courage» to pursue the policy in the face of widespread opposition.

Throughout all the twists and turns of the badger cull debate, a key argument the government has used to justify the case for culling has been the apparent success in reducing TB in cattle as a result of killing badgers in the Republic of Ireland.

However, under considerable pressure from farming and landowning interests, the government is clinging to the wreckage of the policy and plans to continue badger culling in Somerset and Gloucestershire this summer and possibly extend the cull into Dorset as well.

If, as Owen Paterson boasted to the Sunday Times in 2013, badger culling was rolled out to 40 new areas of England over the next 4 years, the overall cost could exceed # 800 million.

The vast majority of badgers killed in both pilot culls were by government employed trap teams, with higher costs than the Welsh government vaccination programme.

This offers David Cameron the chance of a much needed U-turn on badger culling ahead of the next general election.

This was the key reason why Defra would not test any of the badgers killed during the pilot culls for TB, as they knew the results would show a very low level of disease.

It's now widely anticipated that the independent expert panel reviewing the badger cull pilots will deliver a report which is very critical of the policy on cost and effectiveness grounds.

In terms of effectiveness, we have now learned from Freedom of Information requests that in the initial six weeks of the pilot culls, only 24 % of the estimated badger population in Gloucestershire and Somerset were killed by free shooting.

It is now a fair assessment that a four year badger cull in Gloucester and Somerset would cost in the region of # 20 million, but would only deliver around # 2.5 million benefit to the tax payer in terms of reducing the spread of bovine TB.

Queen guitarist Brian May has declared his willingness to end the «polarisation» of debate over the badger cull, following the appointment of Liz Truss to Defra.

This brings us to the key issue of the overall costs of the pilot culls and a national rollout programme for badger culling.

He added: «I believe the most positive first step of a new minister of the environment would be to end the squandering of the taxpayer's money on the current hopeless botch of a badger cull, and invest instead in the BACVI - the first real positive step towards eradication of the disease.»

This is why environmentalists will lament her appointment - and worry that when it comes to this autumn's badger cull, the most controversial issue awaiting her on her desk at Defra, she is unlikely to spend much time resisting the demands of the National Farmers» Union that the culls should continue apace.

Badger culling to control the spread of bovine tuberculosis is one of the main controversies.

Her comments could disappoint Queen guitarist Brian May, who had declared his willingness to end the «polarisation» of the debate over the badger cull following Truss» appointment.

The deaths of all but 120 of the badgers being culled will be checked by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs via a phone call to the marksmen - a move animal welfare groups has responded to with disbelief.

«Not only is the badger cull a disastrous failure on scientific and animal welfare grounds, it is also becoming an unacceptable burden on the taxpayer,» Dominic Dyer, CEO of the Badger Trust,badger cull a disastrous failure on scientific and animal welfare grounds, it is also becoming an unacceptable burden on the taxpayer,» Dominic Dyer, CEO of the Badger Trust,Badger Trust, said.

May is spending some of his earnings - recently boosted by a Queen tour of the United States - on funding a badger and cattle vaccination scheme, which it is hoped could end the need for culling altogether.

«If the Tories» claims about animal welfare were true, they would have ruled out the return of foxhunting months ago, rethought their poorly regulated badger cull, and not tried to water down existing EU standards on animal welfare.»

The RSPCA supported The Badger Trust's legal challenge of a badger cull in England and we are bitterly disappointed it was not succeBadger Trust's legal challenge of a badger cull in England and we are bitterly disappointed it was not succebadger cull in England and we are bitterly disappointed it was not successful.

They confirmed that following the collapse of the pilot cull last year, many farmers lost confidence in the government's ability to deliver a legal culling programme against strong public opposition and decided to take the law into their own hands and illegally gas badgers on their farms.

Opponents of the badger cull were jubilant yesterday after MPs were given the go - ahead to officially debate the policy.

The media had some fun last week following the statement from the environment secretary Owen Paterson that the badgers had «moved the goal posts», triggering an extension of the pilot culls in Somerset and Gloucestershire.

I challenged David Cameron to stop the badger cull not only due to rising costs, animal welfare concerns and public anger, but also because of widespread criminal activity, which threatens the future of a species which is protected by law and has lived on this land for 300,000 years.

If we continue to cull badgers when we can no longer be certain of the population numbers due to widespread illegal killing, we are running a serious risk of eradication of the species from large areas of the UK.

What is more worrying is that despite growing evidence of these illegal badger gassing networks and an investigation by Avon and Somerset Police, the government is now pushing ahead with researching gassing as an option for culling badgers, which gives an effective green light to these criminal activities.

Yet he said recently that it takes «political courage» to pursue the policy of culling of badgers in the face of widespread opposition.

Its website states: «BVZS does not believe there is currently scientific evidence to suggest that a targeted cull of badgers can contribute positively to the overall control of bTB in cattle, can be employed in a way that protects animal welfare or is economically viable».

The British Veterinary Zoological Society has added its voice to the massive weight of scientific and public opposition to the Coalition's proposed badger cull.

He said: «Now that the cull company is seeing fewer badgers on the ground I agree with the decision to stop the pilot cull for this year and I pay tribute to all those who in the face of provocation have worked so hard.

Farming minister George Eustice insisted the cull had been «worthwhile» because, by removing a significant number of badgers, it would «make a difference to disease control in the area».

Foster was also unable to abstain on the badger cull vote, due to his ministerial position, but that didn't stop him voicing his regret at Carmichael's disciplining of him on this issue.

«We don't need any more trials or pilots — the belief that badger culling represents an effective solution to the problem of TB in cattle has already been disproven.»

The other involved a large group of scientists pointing out the flaws in the government's current badger cull plan.

But, the lesson from the Republic of Ireland is that a badger cull, along with other measures, can help control the disease until then.

But despite the use of snares, the badger cull in the Republic of Ireland remains uncontroversial, something that «beggars belief» according to Fintan Kelly from the Irish Wildlife Trust.

In March 2012, the Bow Group released a report opposing the Government's plans to trial badger culling in England, stating that the findings of Labour's major badger culling trials several years earlier were that culling does not work.

She said she sat «head in hands» when Mr Corbyn wrongly accused the Government of «gassing» badgers during the badger cull - a practice which has been outlawed for decades.

Badgers are ultimately responsible for roughly half of tuberculosis (TB) in cattle in areas with high TB prevalence, according to new estimates based on data from a previous badger culling trial.

Such factors included the movement and life - cycles of badgers and cattle; how cattle are moved and housed; how frequently cattle are tested, different types of badger culling; and the infection rates between animals.

The model showed that regular and frequent testing of cattle could eventually lead to the eradication of the disease, whether or not badgers were culled and despite the current test being at most 80 % accurate.

The modelling found that in a region containing about 1.5 m cows of which 3000 to 15,000 might have TB, badger culling could account for a reduction of 12 in the number of infected cattle.

«Our modelling provides compelling evidence, for those charged with controlling Bovine TB, that investment in increasing the frequency of cattle testing is a far more effective strategy than badger culling.»

Modelling produced by researchers at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) has found that the only effective potential Bovine Tuberculosis (TB) control strategies are badger culling, cattle testing, controlling cattle movement, and ceasing the practice of housing farm cattle together during winter.