Limited cull of badgers mooted to tackle bovine TB

By Rebecca Black, PA

A limited cull of badgers in Northern Ireland has been mooted in an effort to tackle bovine TB.

Stormont Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots made the remarks while announcing a new strategy to eradicate bovine TB in the region.

He warned the strategy will take time, describing a “difficult and challenging process for all concerned”.

A limited cull of badgers in NI has been mooted in an effort to tackle bovine TB.https://t.co/pxg5HXxtUb

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Mr Poots also stressed it was not the “wholescale removal of badgers across Northern Ireland”, but a “targeted intervention limited to those specific areas where badgers may play a significant role in the maintenance of bTB in cattle”.

Animal protection charity the USPCA condemned the move as “disproportionate and unjustified”.

USPCA chief executive Brendan Mullan contended the strategy will see “the killing of thousands of healthy badgers”, saying it will be a “wildlife catastrophe for Northern Ireland”.

He urged a “proportionate and humane approach”, to “Trap, Vaccinate or Remove (TVR)” to reduce TB in badgers.

“We are incredibly disappointed by DAERA’s decision today – badgers are not the culprit here and we fear in five years-time we will continue to see high prevalence of Bovine TB in herds, despite this cull. Our badger population will suffer gravely as a result and to what end?,” he said.