GOVERNMENT SCIENTIST CALLS FOR BADGER CULL
10.25.07 - Leído 72 veces. Enviar esta notaAndrew Hough
Badgers need to be culled to tackle tuberculosis (TB) in cattle, the government’s Chief Scientific Adviser said on Tuesday, in a reversal of the existing official position
LONDON, UK; October 25, 2007.- Sir David King indicated that plans to start a cull would be approved within months.
King, who will give evidence to the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs select committee on Wednesday, supported badger culls in areas which had a “high and persistent” incidence of TB in cattle.
Government scientists have previously rejected calls from farmers and vets for a cull in a bid to arrest the disease’s growth.
Badgers are a wildlife host of bovine TB, which has become a serious problem for Britain’s livestock producers, particularly in southwest England.
While most strains of the disease are harmless to animals and humans, some forms can lead to leprosy, Johne’s disease and avian bird flu.
A recent report by the farm ministry’s Independent Scientific Group concluded that “no practicable method of badger culling can reduce the incidence of cattle TB to any meaningful extent and several culling approaches may make matters worse”.
A cull is strongly opposed by wildlife groups such as the Badger Trust and the animal welfare charity RSPCA.
But in findings published on Monday, King overturned the previous conclusions, saying that killing badgers would reduce the incidence of the disease.
His findings were also backed by Debby Reynolds, the country’s chief vet.
Badgers, King said, were a “continuing source of infection for cattle and could account for 40 percent of cattle breakdowns in some areas”.
He said that in “certain circumstances and under strict conditions” a cull was needed.
He told the BBC that “now was the time for action”.
“We cannot solve the problem by looking at cattle alone, so we have come back to where we have been for the last 15 or 20 years, looking at how to deal with the problem in badgers as well,” he said.
Defra said no decision on a cull was imminent.
(Reuters)
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