Policy paper

Summary of 2022 badger control operations

Published 5 April 2023

Applies to England

Natural England Chief Scientist’s advice on the outcome of badger control operations, 2022

Effectiveness of industry-led culling

In 2022, alongside the Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO), I have continued to provide oversight and advice on the effectiveness, safety and humaneness of the operations for existing and new intensive cull areas (Areas 33 to 72). Our advice for Areas 3 to 31, which undertook licensed supplementary badger control in 2022, will be released separately.

The outcome of this year’s operations indicates that industry-led licensed badger control continues to deliver the level of effectiveness required by the policy to be confident of achieving disease control benefits:

• new areas licensed in 2022 (Areas 62 to 72) effectively applied lessons learned from badger control operations in previous years to make a successful start to their operations. All 11 areas applied an appropriate level of targeted Effort across their respective areas to achieve their minimum number where appropriate.
• all 28 areas in their second to fourth years (Areas 33 to 61 - Area 54-Lincolnshire excluded) applied an appropriate level of targeted Effort to maintain the population at a reduced level.
• Area 60 – Shropshire had an extension of their licence boundary of over 40km² and were therefore required to deploy a Year 1 figure of Effort on this extension land. They deployed 95.45% of their target Effort and the Area met both Effort and Coverage targets when looking at the Area as a whole.
• areas were set a minimum number of badgers to be removed by Day 43 of their cull. These numbers were adjusted after Day 28 of operations to reflect activity (both badger and contractor) on the ground. Where factors such as late maize harvest or poor weather conditions hampered coverage of some land parcels, Areas expressed a desire to continue beyond 43 days to maximise disease control benefits. To reflect this Continuation, the minimum number of badgers to be removed from these areas was increased. Two areas (Area 47 - Herefordshire and 59 - Worcestershire) finished marginally below their uplifted minimum numbers. Nevertheless, they deployed the required level of Effort and Coverage and so delivered an effective cull.

As in previous years, minimum and maximum numbers were updated once badger control operations were underway which allows initial estimates of badger abundance to be refined by actual circumstances observed in the field. This continues to be a valuable step to complement the pre-operational use of sett surveys which also provide field evidence of the size of the badger population.

Safety of operations

Operations across all areas were carried out to agreed standards of public safety, which is a reflection of the quality of training that contractors received and the assessments they had to pass. A small number of reports alleging unsafe firearms use were received from one particular location but joint Police and Natural England investigations found no evidence to substantiate these.

Humaneness of controlled shooting

Contractors continued to show high levels of discipline and compliance with the Best Practice Guide (see Annex B). The level of accuracy of controlled shooting compares favourably with previous years and with other wildlife control activities.

Dr Tim Hill
Chief Scientist, Natural England

UK Chief Veterinary Officer’s advice and conclusions on disease control benefits

In 2022, I continued to provide oversight and advice on disease control and humaneness of the operations for existing intensive cull areas (Areas 33 to 72). My advice for Areas 3 to 31, who undertook licensed supplementary badger control, will be released separately.

Natural England’s Chief Scientist and I have concluded that all areas delivered sufficient levels of coverage and effort required to be confident of achieving disease control benefits, including Areas 62 to 72 which began culling in 2022.

Areas 33 to 42 concluded their fourth year of culling operations and will be eligible to apply for a 2-year supplementary badger control licence in 2023. For the remaining intensive cull areas to maximise disease control benefits they should continue culling for the remainder of their licenced period to maintain the level of reduction in the badger population. I anticipate that intensive culls, if they continue to be effective, will continue to see similar benefits of reduced disease incidence in cattle over their licence periods, as shown in Downs et al. (2019).

Based on the monitoring activity provided by Natural England, my view remains that the likelihood of suffering in badgers culled by controlled shooting is broadly within the range of those reported for hunting or killing of other terrestrial mammals.

In line with previous years, I continued to be responsible for monitoring the operations in the 2 Low Risk Area of England (LRA) badger control areas, both found within TB hotspots. This is in line with the aim of badger control in the LRA being eradication of disease.

In Area 32-Cumbria, 2022 saw the first year where vaccination operations were carried out across the whole area by APHA wildlife experts. We are confident that we are vaccinating a sufficient proportion of the population for vaccination to provide a protective effect and limit the transmission of TB. This will provide longevity to the hard work of local stakeholders and APHA in controlling disease in the hotspot.

In Area 54-Lincolnshire, based on the results of surveillance carried out in 2021, I recommended that culling should continue for a third year. In 2022, Area 54 applied an appropriate level of targeted effort and sett coverage across the licensed area and so are considered to have achieved a successful third year of culling.

In line with our LRA badger control policy, badger carcases removed Area 54 underwent post-mortem examination (PME) and sampling for culture to isolate M. bovis. These results are published today and, alongside cattle surveillance and whole genome sequencing, will be assessed to inform the type of badger disease control carried out in subsequent years in the area.

Christine Middlemiss
UK Chief Veterinary Officer

Background

On 28 October 2022, Defra announced^{[footnote 1]} that as part of the Government’s 25-year strategy to eradicate bovine tuberculosis and protect the livelihoods of dairy and beef farmers, Natural England had licensed and authorised badger disease control operations across 40 areas in Avon, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cheshire, Cornwall, Derbyshire, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Herefordshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, Shropshire, Somerset, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Wiltshire, and Worcestershire.

Badger control operations, lasting at least 6 weeks, took place in each area between 30 August and 1 November 2022. This document sets out the outcomes from those areas.

Effectiveness

Estimates of the badger population in each control area were supplied by Defra for the purpose of giving advice to Natural England on setting the minimum and maximum number of badgers to be removed in the licences. The estimates, methodologies and rationale used were published in October 2022^{[footnote 2]}.

As in previous years, Natural England monitored the progress in each control area closely. The levels of contractor shooting effort, number of cage-traps set and number of badgers removed were recorded on a daily basis in all accessible land parcels. This provided Natural England with regular information on the numbers of badgers removed, the amount of effort deployed by each control company and its spatial distribution. This enabled a detailed assessment of the progress that each control company was making towards achieving their minimum and maximum numbers (where appropriate) and allowed Natural England to assess whether resources were being effectively deployed across all accessible land.

Updating minimum and maximum numbers

As set out in Section D of Defra’s advice to Natural England, numbers were reviewed as operations progressed to assess whether the badger population in each control area was higher or lower than the initial estimate suggested. Based on an assessment of the data on Day 28 in 39 control areas^{[footnote 3]}, Defra advised Natural England to adjust the minimum and maximum numbers upwards in 20 control areas and downwards in the other 19 control areas to better reflect the evidence of badger abundance. Details of the calculations can be found in Annex A1.

Progress towards minimum and maximum numbers

In 2022, 37 control areas achieved their minimum number and did not exceed their maximum number. Area 47 - Herefordshire and Area 59 - Worcestershire achieved their updated Day 43 minimum number by day 36 and 35 respectively (see Annex A1). However, it was agreed that the areas could continue beyond 43 days. This was to ensure coverage of parcels of land that were yet to be accessed in order to maximise disease control benefits. Like other areas that continued beyond 43 days, the areas consequently received an additional increase of 1.5% per additional operational day and ceased marginally below this uplifted number however they deployed the required level of Effort and Coverage. See Table 1.

Table 1: Number of badgers removed by Areas 33 to 72 during 2022 badger control operations

Area	Updated minimum number	Updated maximum number	Badgers removed	Removed by controlled shooting	Removed by cage-trapping
Area 33 – Avon	282	382	345	301	44
Area 34 – Cheshire*	783	1063	846	764	82
Area 35 – Cornwall*	658	894	749	552	197
Area 36 – Staffordshire*	245	332	270	256	14
Area 37 – Devon*	307	418	333	276	57
Area 38 – Devon*	413	560	483	407	76
Area 39 – Dorset*	248	338	249	213	36
Area 40 – Herefordshire*	680	923	748	630	118
Area 41 – Staffordshire*	348	471	391	372	19
Area 42 – Wiltshire*	1381	1875	1541	1423	118
Area 43 – Wiltshire	455	617	549	512	37
Area 44 – Avon*	948	1287	1176	1162	14
Area 45 – Derbyshire*	812	1102	975	896	79
Area 46 – Gloucestershire*	240	325	244	231	13
Area 47 – Herefordshire*	899	1220	873	781	92
Area 48 – Leicestershire	224	304	241	214	27
Area 49 – Oxfordshire	433	588	502	437	65
Area 50 – Shropshire*	1790	2428	1940	1712	228
Area 51 – Somerset*	1031	1399	1335	1232	103
Area 52 – Warwickshire	915	1242	1080	996	84
Area 53 – Wiltshire	167	226	178	149	29
Area 54 – Lincolnshire	N/A	N/A	80	79	1
Area 55 – Shropshire*	112	153	121	110	11
Area 56 – Hampshire	229	311	253	220	33
Area 57 – Berkshire	74	101	77	55	22
Area 58 – Staffordshire*	336	456	348	328	20
Area 59 – Worcestershire*	300	407	278	271	7
Area 60 – Shropshire*	759	1030	812	729	83
Area 61 – Oxfordshire	474	644	531	440	91
Area 62- Buckinghamshire*	720	978	843	688	155
Area 63- Cornwall	369	500	381	287	94
Area 64- Cornwall	321	435	361	276	85
Area 65- Derbyshire*	747	1014	964	867	97
Area 66- Devon*	178	241	206	116	90
Area 67- Hampshire*	512	695	515	446	69
Area 68- Northamptonshire*	1698	2304	1870	1529	341
Area 69- Oxfordshire	271	367	338	302	36
Area 70- Somerset*	179	243	182	171	11
Area 71- Warwickshire*	745	1010	872	791	81
Area 72- Warwickshire*	1411	1915	1573	1329	244

*Minimum and maximum numbers for areas include an additional increase of 1.5% per operational day given continuation in those areas beyond 43 days, see Annex A1.

More data on these areas can be found in Annex A2. Natural England will use the data on effort levels and numbers of badgers removed to inform its requirements for future badger control operations.

Accuracy of controlled shooting

Shooting accuracy was used as a proxy measure for ‘humaneness’ and was assessed using observations from Natural England Monitors of badgers being shot at under controlled shooting conditions.

Summary of controlled shooting observations

Monitors observed 122 badgers being shot at using controlled shooting, of which 8 were categorised as missed and not retrieved. In such cases, the use of firearms carries an element of risk with regard to the wounding of individual animals. While the contractor has control over the condition of the firearm, ammunition used, zeroing of the rifle and shooting technique, once the trigger is released, external parameters outside of the contractor’s control come into play. A missed shot can result for a number of reasons, with movement of the target species simultaneously with trigger release being the most common.

The non-retrieval rate observed in 2022 of 6.6% (95% confidence interval 3.0%–11.0%^{[footnote 4]} was higher than 2021 however lower than that of the previous 8 years.

As with 2016 - 2021, post-mortem examination of badgers removed by controlled shooting would only have been carried out by exception in Areas 33 to 72. This year none were requested.

More details on compliance monitoring conducted during badger control operations can be found in Annex B.

Safety of operations

Operations in all 40 control areas were carried out to a high standard of public safety. All existing badger control companies’ contractors continued to receive training prior to the commencement of operations in 2022, on the requirements of the published Best Practice Guides^{[footnote 5]}, lessons learned and safety training.

In relation to the use of firearms in all 40 control areas, no significant incidents affecting public safety were reported. Contractors continued to show high levels of discipline and adherence to the best practice guides, see Annex B.

Conclusions

The results from 2022 indicate that all 40 badger control companies have delivered the level of badger removal required to be confident of disease control benefits and that the operations were carried out to a high standard of public safety.

The levels of controlled shooting accuracy achieved in this year’s operations were similar to those in the previous 9 years. The likelihood of suffering in badgers is comparable with the range of outcomes reported when other control activities, currently accepted by society, have been assessed. Licensed control companies will need to continue to ensure that their contractors receive rigorous training to maintain high standards of effectiveness, humaneness and safety.

1. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bovine-tb-authorisation-for-badger-control-in-2022 ↩

2. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/advice-to-natural-england-on-setting-minimum-and-maximum-numbers-of-badgers-to-be-controlled-in-2022 ↩

3. The remaining area (Area 54 – Lincolnshire) did not receive minimum and maximum numbers as these are of less utility in the Low Risk Area given the aim of preventing disease spreading within wildlife and aiding eradication of disease. ↩

4. Estimates of confidence intervals for proportions were produced using a “Modified Jeffries interval” (Brown and others, 2001). ↩

5. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1101003/Controlled_Shooting_of_Free-ranging_Badgers_BPG_-August_2022.pdf

   https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1100995/Cage-trapping_and_Dispatch_of_Badgers_BPG_August_2022.pdf ↩