Dorset Badger Group badger watch 20th April 2008

Badger Watch, Dorset: 20 April 08 by Jane Adams.

After the Advanced Training Day at Brooklands for members wishing to be actively involved with the work of the Dorset Badger Group (a report on the day will be published here shortly), many of the participants finished off the day with a visit to nearby Badger Watch Dorset, where you can sit in the comfort of a warm hide and watch wild badgers come out of a natural sett and feed right in front of you.

We had an excellent evening with very good sightings, including three badgers just a few feet from the hide for extended periods.

You can see more of Jane's studies of Dorset wildlife on her blog Urban Extension. She also has a superb resource for local wildlife enthusiasts on her new website Nature Watch Corfe Mullen.

Dorset Badger Group Newsletter Spring 2008

You can view or download our latest newsletter here.

Peascombe bait marking reveals fascinating results

Find out the results of our recent bait marking experiment mapping badger territories near Bridport here.

New badger DVD from local film maker shot entirely in daylight

Renowned local film maker Rodney Goodhand has produced a wonderful DVD charting the adventures of a local badger family on the heathlands of Purbeck. Find out more about this remarkable film and order your copy here.

Time for Benn to rule out badger culling, say conservationists

Confirmation that both gassing and snaring have been ruled out as
badger culling options by Defra[1] were welcomed today by the Badger
Trust.

Trevor Lawson, for the Badger Trust, commented:

"Research by the Central Science Laboratory has concluded that
snaring is inhumane and gas cannot be delivered to badger setts in
sufficient concentrations. This only leaves two options. Night
shooting is hopelessly slow, dangerous, labour intensive and unlikely
to kill sufficient badgers. Cage trapping followed by shooting will
inevitably be subject to interference by some of the 96 per cent of
people who oppose badger culling[2]. Given the level of public
opposition to culling, it would also risk making farmers pariahs in their own
communities.

"It is time for Hilary Benn, the Secretary of State, to make the
sensible decision and confirm that badger culling can never make a
meaningful contribution to bovine TB control. Instead, it is quite
clear that resources must be focused on controlling the spread of TB
by cattle, which are the major vector and reservoir of this disease.
This must be coupled with major IT investment in Animal Health to
allow that organisation to monitor the disease effectively."

For further comment, contact Trevor Lawson on 07976 262388.

1. Gassing ruled out as a culling option, Farmers Guardian, 6 March
2008; confirmed by Farming Today, Radio 4, 7 March 2008.
2. In the Government's consultation on badger culling in 2005, 96
per cent of respondents opposed culling. This included respondents
in the westcountry, where TB is widespread, despite a sustained
campaign by the NFU to persuade its thousands of members there to
support culling.

Badgers in The Observer

From The Observer 28th October 2007:

DBG Endorses Badger Trust's Response to Culling Recommendation

If you are concerned about this issue, we urge you to write to local and national newspapers and/or your MP to express your views.

22nd October 2007: The Badger Trust today ridiculed Prof David King, Chief Scientific Adviser to the government for recommending badger culling to control bovine TB in cattle. The recommendation comes without any consideration of the cost involved which makes a mockery the entire policy.

The Badger Trust is also shocked that this review was conducted in secret and involved advice from the Republic of Ireland where 30 years of badger culling have left Eire with twice the level of bTB in the national herd compared to that found in Great Britain. Trevor Lawson public affairs advisor to Badger Trust commented: " Prof King's list of recommendations repeat virtually word for word the opinions of farming unions and the cull mad vets in Defra. This is a highly-politicised rush to judgment, which, ludicrously, contains no cost benefit analysis.

"Prof King says his aim is to control bTB in cattle but he ignores the fact that this can be achieved by improving the cattle testing regime. The science shows that cattle are the primary source of infection for both each other and for badgers but this is of no interest to Prof King. His shallow report amounts to a shamelessly one sided examination of the problem."

The Badger Trust points out that Prof King's advice contradicts:

- the advice of Prof Sir John Krebs who recently told Lord Rooker, Animal Health Minister, that there was "no wriggle room on bovine TB policy and that badger culling was not viable

- the advice of Defra Science Advisory Council who for two years have accepted the scientific research first published in 2005 and concluded that badger culling should not be considered until all possible cattle measures had been implemented successfully and in full.

The Independent Scientific Group advises that TB can be rapidly reversed and brought under control by improving the cattle testing regime which currently misses around 1 in 3 infected cattle leaving them to infect other cattle in the herd.

Government scientists agree culling not the answer to TB

The Government's Independent Scientific Group on bovine TB has concluded that badger culling can make no meaningful contribution to cattle TB control in Britain, recommending that TB can be reversed, and the geographical spread of the disease contained, by the rigid application of cattle-based control measures alone. Read more in this report from the Badger Trust.

After £50 million of public money and 10 years of debate on whether to cull or not to cull badgers in order to control Bovine TB in cattle, during which time 11,000 badgers were killed, (unnecessarily as it turned out), the Government’s Independent Scientific Group has published its final report. This is good news for Britain’s badgers for the time being. Read more in our factsheet here.

Badger sett blocking

Since January 2007 year we have been alerted to incidents of sett blocking in some areas of Dorset. Many setts have been “killed off” in the past by heavy blocking and badgers have become trapped underground. In a couple of areas there is evidence that setts are still being blocked on a regular basis.

We are asking all our members to be vigilant and report to us any blocked setts that they find, especially if they know that the setts have been recently open and active.

If you find a sett that has been completely blocked, please firstly record any evidence in the form of photos etc. and loosen the entrances so that the badgers can breathe and have a chance of getting out. Only a few of the holes need to be opened depending on the size of the sett and at different parts of the sett so that air can circulate. This is best done by hand if possible and without damaging the entrances, as it is an offence to damage a badger sett. Please let us and the police know about the blocked sett as soon as possible and that you have opened some of the holes.

This photograph is an example of what we have found recently. Note the spade marks left by the person who has blocked the sett entrance.