Skip Navigation | HOME | UK Indymedia | Editorial Guidelines | Mission Statement | About Us | Contact | Help | Support Us

West Country Features | UK Features | West Country Newswire | UK Newswire |

Badger killing to start

A. N. Other | 21.06.2002 07:05

BADGER KILLING IS EXPECTED TO START NEXT WEEK ON EXMOOR NATIONAL PARK AND NORTH WILTSHIRE

Coalition of Badger Action Groups
PO Box 129, PLYMOUTH, Devon, PL1 1RY
Tel: 07779 442395
E-mail  against@badger-killers.co.uk
Web: www.badger-killers.co.uk

PRESS RELEASE

Date: 20 June 2002
BADGER KILLING IS EXPECTED TO START NEXT WEEK ON EXMOOR NATIONAL PARK AND NORTH WILTSHIRE

DEFRA are laying traps in the Proactive killing area of 'Tarr Steps on Exmoor. The killing area covers a 100sq km area taking in Tarrs Steps, Winsford, Exford, Liscombe, East and West Anstey, North and West of Dulverton and Hawkridge areas (O/S Explorer maps OL9 and 114). Also DEFRA are laying traps in the North Wiltshire Proactive killing area around Devizes, the killing area takes in Bromham, Bulkington, Erlestoke, Keevil, Marston, Pottern, Poulshot, Roundway, Rowde, Seend, Worton and including just South and West of Devizes (O/S Explorer maps 130, 156 and 157). For more information about the North Wiltshire killing area phone:07796 515311

"Concerned individuals will be monitoring the killing area and are insensed by the total watse of money and life, the badger killing will not help solve the bovine TB issue. Over twenty-seven years of scapegoating and killing badgers has not resolved the bovine TB 'problem'" says Debbie Vincent from the Coalition of Badger Action Groups.

TB statistics confirm that cattle are to blame - *So why carry on wasting £35,000 to kill each 'infected' badger?
Publication of TB statistics on 29 April 2002 confirms that cattle to cattle transmission is the major cause of the increase in bovine tuberculosis in cattle. Even Professor John Bourne, who co-ordinates the killing 'experiment', has admitted that cattle to cattle infection has been underplayed. "I think it is true to say the badger has been made a scapegoat," he admitted to the BBC, in May 1999.

Also, the vast majority of badgers are unlikely to be infected (DEFRA’s own figures show that 80% of 21,545 badgers killed and examined post mortem in previous TB badger removals were not infected with TB). "So in real terms the 20% of 'infected' badgers cost £35,000 to kill each infected badger!" says Debbie Vincent, "the badger cull must end to stop this political whitewash that has nothing to do bovine TB. Have the government not learnt the lessons from the 1960 and 1970's? Thirty years and millions of pounds have been wasted, and to what end? Nothig! Why are our taxes being wasted in such an appalling way?"

She continues "We challenge DEFRA's 'Pet' sciencetis to a public debate into the ineffective badger cull!"

Bovine TB has gone unchecked during the FMD outbreak, DEFRA are greatly behind on their TB testing program which is what is causing the problem.

"Undetected and low levels of infection [1] in cattle herds were dramatically amplified whilst cattle were cooped up during the foot and mouth outbreak", said Dr Elaine King, chief executive of the National Federation of Badger Groups.

"Now that TB testing has resumed in earnest, the increased levels of infection are more easily detected. Badgers are clearly not to blame: infection has sprung up in previously unaffected sites, such as Cumbria and Scotland [2]. Badgers have not migrated from the west-country to the north, but cattle were moved despite the enormous risk of TB outbreaks." she says.

Farmers and DEFRA need to come to their senses and recognise that only tougher cattle movement restrictions and better cattle testing will prevent a further escalation in the outbreaks.

"The badger slaughter policy has failed miserably, it is bad science to scapegoat the badger, its farming practices that have to change" said Debbie Vincent. "Bovine TB in cattle has spread to South Wales and the Midlands, Cumbria and even Scotland - where next? Often, bovine TB has jumped miles to unaffected areas. Badgers do not travel these great distances. But cattle do, especially since B.S.E. and the latest farming disease outbreak of Foot and Mouth last year."

"An example of that scapegoating is that farmers and farming unions have been blaming badgers for the decline in skylarks for years" says Debbie Vincent. But in a briefing paper to the Government TB Forum in May 2002, Dr Chris Cheeseman from DEFRA's Ecological Research Unit, confirmed that cattle are responsible for 60 per cent of nest destructions. In contrast, badgers and foxes are responsible for just 15 per cent of destructions. Most significantly, Dr Cheeseman confirmed that intensive grazing regimes increase the likelihood of nest destruction.

Dr Cheeseman also rebuked farming unions for claiming that badger numbers are “exploding”. He also confirmed that no evidence has been found to link an increase in the badger population to the increase in bovine TB in cattle.

Contact details:

Debbie Vincent, Coalition of Badger Action Groups, PO Box 129, PLYMOUTH, Devon, PL1 1RY. Tel: 07779 442395 E-mail  against@badger-killers.co.uk: www.badger-killers.co.uk

Devon and Somerset local contact: Liz 01803 860050

Wiltshire Badger Action Group: 07796 515311

Dr Elaine King, National Federation of Badger Groups (NFBG): Tel: 020 7498 3220 or 07976 153389 NFBG web site: www.nfbg.org.uk




Notes to editors:

[1] An epidemiological investigation into bovine tuberculosis. Third Report of the Independent Scientific Group on cattle TB. July 2001:

"and the persistence of TB in cattle in some regions has been interpreted as evidence that there must be a continuing source of infection from wildlife, rather than due to inadequacies of the cattle testing system and movement control, or both. We have questioned this view as part of our overall consideration of the persistent TB problem. This has led us to consider the possibility that irrespective of its original source, infection persists in cattle herds despite regular tuberculin testing, thereby providing opportunities for amplification within herds and for cattle-to-cattle spread."

[2] Progress report on the government?s strategy to tackle TB in cattle: January 2002, TB Forum paper 61:

"7. 2 reactor cattle and 2 IRs [inconclusive reactors] have been found when post FMD restocked herds, 119 animals in all, at Englishtown in Cumbria, and Staffler in Scotland, were given routine post restocking 3 month tests on 15 January 2002 and one was from the Launceston area of Cornwall. Cattle movement data suggest that this animal moved through a number of herds in the Launceston area in a fairly short amount of time."

A. N. Other
- Homepage: www.badger-killers.co.uk

Download this article in pdf format >>

Email this article to someone >>

Submit an addition or make a quick comment on this article >>

Comments

Hide the following 3 comments

pigeons, badgers, foxs, squirrels what next ?

21.06.2002 15:21

what a nation of animal torturers ! how can one stop this deluge ?

Tory B Liar


pigeons, badgers, foxs, squirrels what next ?

21.06.2002 15:21

what a nation of animal torturers ! how can one stop this deluge ?

Tory B Liar


Badgers Hit Again.

21.06.2002 20:13

Which country are we talking about when we say they are such animal lovers. Lets get rid of that bullshit myth.

Badgers fall prey to blood sport revival
20,000 die in slaughter of the badgers
Mark Townsend
Sunday June 16, 2002
 http://www.observer.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,738334,00.html

D.R.


Publish

Publish your news

Do you need help with publishing?

Kollektives

Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World

Other UK IMCs
Bristol/South West
London
Northern Indymedia
Scotland

Server Appeal

West Country Topics

Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
Indymedia
Migration
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Workers' Movements
Zapatista

West Country Actions 2007

West Country Actions 2006

April 2006 No Borders Days of Action
Art and Activism Caravan 2006
Climate Camp 2006
French CPE uprising 2006
G8 Russia 2006
Lebanon War 2006
March 18 Anti War Protest
Mayday 2006
Oaxaca Uprising
Refugee Week 2006
Rossport Solidarity
Transnational Day of Action Against Migration Controls
WSF 2006

West Country Actions 2005

DSEi 2005
G8 2005
WTO Hong Kong 2005

West Country Actions 2004

European Social Forum
FBI Server Seizure
May Day 2004
Venezuela

West Country Actions 2003

Bush 2003
DSEi 2003
Evian G8
May Day 2003
No War F15
Saloniki Prisoner Support
Thessaloniki EU
WSIS 2003

Languages

english

IMCs


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech