The Battle Against Badgers

Badger Battle Erupts in England
by Geoff Brumfiel
ScientificAmerican.com

As part of a recent governmental campaign, England has introduced a policy where farmers and hunters will kill large amounts of Badgers. Badgers can carry a strain tuberculosis (TB) that can easily be transferred directly or indirectly to cattle, causing a major issue for farmers. In addition, this disease is transferable to humans through the milk of infected cattle. If this problem is not controlled, than the government predicts that they will lose 1 billion pounds to the issue within the next ten years. This is an extremely controversial issue, because many animal rights activists are furious with the plans to kill a large amount of the species. Studies conducted show that killing 70% of the population in large areas would reduce Bovine TB by about 16%. One issue concerning the strategy is the unknown Badger population in England. Since they are very common animals, and the largest predators in the country, it is impossible to estimate exactly how many animals would have to be killed to amount to 70% of the population.  Jack Reed, who is spokesman for the Badger Trust claims that the percentage "doesn't sound terribly meaningful to [him]" since it is still a relatively small reduction. The Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs released a new plan in July of 2011, aimed at completely eliminating Bovine TB. They focused on increasing surveillance and security on farms, as well as their "science-led policy" of hunting Badgers in areas greatly effected by the disease. The Governments in Wales and Ireland are also working to eliminate this serious issue, through snare-trapping campaigns and immunizations of the animals. 

I think Bovine TB is a very serious issue and needs to be combated, but I think there are other ways to do it rather than killing a large amount of animals. I agree with Jack Reed that a 16% TB reduction among cattle isn't a sufficient amount to justify the slaughter of around 70% of an animal population. They could add more security to cattle ranches, to prevent badgers from coming into contact with the cows, as well as conducting more frequent checks for the disease. Also, I think it is worth making an attempt to immunize badgers or cattle, so that they cannot catch or spread TB. However, I do agree that farmers should be able to shoot badgers if they see them on their property in order to protect their cattle and therefore their business. The mass reduction of England's main predator species could wreak havoc on the local ecosystems, throwing the food webs out of order because several species would loose their main predator. Overall, I think other methods of TB repression should be attempted before they kill massive amounts of Badgers.