Illegal badger killing on the rise because of delay to cull - claim farmers
BADGERS are being killed illegally because of delays to the introduction of a pilot cull, a farmer has said.
Rural Affairs Minister Elin Jones said in April there would be a cull as part of attempts to control TB in cattle, for which badgers are blamed.
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But she will not make a statement on the cull until early next year because she said her officials needed more time to decide where it would be most effective.
On BBC current affairs programme Taro Naw on S4C, farmers have criticised the delay.
Carwyn James, who farms organic cattle in Cilgerran, Pembrokeshire, said: "The Assembly Government has been talking about the cull for long enough.
"The cost of the epidemic now is astronomical. They really have to do something now.
"More and more badgers are being killed illegally. Farmers are losing patience and badgers are being killed in this area every week."
Between January and May, 2008, 4,600 cattle were slaughtered, compared to 3,200 in the same period in 2007.
The cost of compensating Welsh farmers for TB in cattle has risen by 59 per cent in the past year, up from £6.3m in April to September 2007, to more than £10m in the same period in 2008.
Brian Walters, deputy president of the Farmers' Union of Wales (FUW) said: "If the minister doesn't get this right we can forget about tackling TB in the Welsh countryside.
"It will be rampant in wildlife and out of control."
Ms Jones said: "I don't anticipate any more delays but we have to take legal and veterinary advice as to where this would be effective.
"I hope to be able to make a statement on this in the new year."
But conservationists say badgers are being wrongly victimised for an illness brought on by modern, intensive farming.
Huw Roberts, of the Clwyd Badger Group, said: "Scientific experiments have shown that it is cattle that are transmitting TB to badgers.
"I'm certain that the epidemic is caused by moving cattle from one area to another."
Taro Naw, made by BBC Wales, is on S4C tonight at 9pm.
5 Comments
by Teresa, Carmarthen
Tuesday, September 30 2008, 6:51PM
“These farmers are behaving stupidly. Killing badgers on their farms if they are carriers of bTB is going to make the spread of disease worse. The pilot cull is not acceptable to many landowners. Nearly 90% of badgers are healthy and don't carry bTB. Other measures should be applied. From recent Natural England announcement on DEFRA site "Government recognises that bovine TB is a serious problem for the farming
industry and that for some farmers the effects can be devastating. However,
bovine TB is a largely regional problem, concentrated in England in the South
West and West Midlands. In England just over 90% of cattle herds are free of
bovine TB restrictions at any time, and some significant cattle farming areas of
the country are largely free of the disease. On our current estimates, the
economic impact of the disease on the British cattle industry as a whole is
small, equivalent to less than 1% of the value of GB milk and beef sales." For 1% of sales badgers must die.”
by Dai, Carmarthen
Tuesday, September 30 2008, 2:31PM
“Farmers will make themselves very unpopular indeed if they embark upon a badger cull, whether legal or illegal! The Welsh Assembly government also risks losing popularity if such a cull is approved. The vast majority of people love to see badgers and do not even local exterminations.
The priciples of vaccinating cattle against tuberculosis have been known for decades, the fact that a vaccine is not currently available shows a shocking lack of determination by the government to solve this problem in the only way most of the population would find acceptable.”
by Ian, Swansea
Tuesday, September 30 2008, 12:55PM
“The test being proposed by WAG has not been done before and involves a combination of a cull, the whole cattle herd being tested & monitored and hard boundaries being made use of to prevent badger movements. It should show once and for all how TB spreads. All tests to date have not been nearly as full proof as what WAG are proposing.”
by carol, SA1
Tuesday, September 30 2008, 11:48AM
“Badgers as all creatures on this earth have a right to life. Who are we to sentence them to death...As a farmers daughter i am horrified at theis prospect.
Rob is right in saying TB vaccines for our cattle”
by Rob, SA1
Tuesday, September 30 2008, 10:39AM
“Seems like a pointless and endless exercise culling these badgers. What happens when they are killed in one area, but then over a period of a couple of months/years, new badgers move into the area? Same old problem, me thinks.
Wouldn't it be more cost effective to be able to vaccinate cattle against TB? This way not only would the problem be solved instantly but also our most ancient of mammal species would have a fighting chance - they are much maligned as it is.”