Badgers & bovine TB

Government faces competing scientific views about what to do.

08/11/2007

Rapid reversals in policy and the interpretation of science seem to be the order of the day when it comes to badgers and bovine TB. Highly ironic given the amount of money that has been spent on the science and the   time spent on a ten year experiment designed by Sir John Krebs to test the option of badger culling.

With the Krebs trial complete, the Independent Science Group (ISG), set up to evaluate the trial, concluded in June that culling would be ineffective and too costly. It said the Government should tighten and place further restrictions on cattle movements. The ISG   rationale is that disturbance caused by culling actually increases the likelihood of TB outbreaks in areas adjacent to where badgers are culled.

The farmers’ reaction to the ISG report was one of disbelief - to which the ISG Chairman in essence told them to shut up and accept the science. Well, one person it seems who did not accept the ISG conclusions was the chief scientist himself Sir David King.

In a separate report published last month he argued that if the culled areas were big enough the effect of the disturbance would be reduced because the perimeter would be small in relation to the total area. Over the last week or two the debate seems to have degenerated into a series of accusation and counter accusation – mostly about the expertise of the people involved and the quality of their reports. Livestock farmers have every right to be angry and baffled.