Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Badger cull linked to rise in bovine TB cases


Natural England reports having 29 inquiries from farmers’ groups wanting to kill badgers locally.
 Natural England reports having 29 inquiries from farmers’ groups wanting to kill badgers locally. Photograph: Nature Picture Library/Getty Images

The government’s controversial badger cull has led to a rise in the number of cases of tuberculosis found in cattle in one of the programme’s key geographical areas, say animal rights activists.
Rather than the number of cases of bovine TB falling among herds in and on the edge of the badger killing area in Dorset, they have been increasing, it was claimed. The campaign group Stop the Cull suggests this was due to “perturbation”, referring to the way culling may disrupt badger social groups, leading probably to more widespread roaming (including migration into cull areas), and consequently the disease spreading.

No comments:

Post a Comment