Jo Smith, Chief Executive of Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, shares The Wildlife Trusts' thoughts on the wholly inadequate 5-week consultation launched by Defra on 14th March 2024, with the aim of informing their next steps to evolve England's badger control policy to address bovine tuberculosis.

The proposed ‘targeted badger intervention’ policy states that it will “allow badger culling to continue in areas where evidence supports the need for its application”.

The Wildlife Trusts have significant concerns about the consultation and the proposals and have written to the Secretary of State to express these concerns.

We understand the hardship that bovine tuberculosis (bTB) causes in the farming community and the need to find the right mechanisms to control the disease. However, there is no reliable peer reviewed evidence to show that badger culling is having a significant impact on lowering bovine tuberculosis in cattle in or around cull zones.

This latest consultation appears to support the ongoing culling of badgers indefinitely and fails to provide sufficient information or detail on thresholds, parameters or timescales. The UK Government proposals could lead to 100% of badgers being killed in areas across England where bovine tuberculosis is found in cattle.