Policy paper

Summary of 2020 supplementary badger control operations

Published 27 May 2021

Applies to England

Background

In July 2017, 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 could licence and authorise local farmers and landowners to carry out Supplementary Badger Control operations across two areas in Gloucestershire and Somerset. This authorisation was extended to permit licensing of a third area in Dorset in 2019 and a further seven areas in 2020 within the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire and Herefordshire.

In 2020, badger control licences were re-authorised to take place for a fourth year in Gloucestershire and Somerset and for a second year in Dorset. An additional seven areas were granted badger control licences in 2020, including two areas in Cornwall, two in Devon, one in Dorset, one in Gloucestershire and one in Herefordshire. Operations were authorised to take place between 1 June 2020 and 15 December 2020. This document sets out the outcomes of these operations in those areas.

Effectiveness

Estimates for the number of badgers to be removed from each licensed area were provided by Defra for the purpose of giving advice to Natural England for the setting of minimum and maximum numbers. The estimates, methodologies and rationale used were published in September 2020^{[footnote 2]}.

As in previous years, Natural England monitored the progress in licensed areas. The numbers of badgers removed were reported in accessible land parcels on a regular basis. This provided information on the number of badgers dispatched, the spatial distribution of badger control activity and the effort that was deployed. This enabled an assessment of the progress that each badger control company was making towards achieving the minimum and maximum numbers, and allowed Natural England to assess whether resources were being effectively deployed across accessible land.

The number of badgers removed against the minimum and maximum number is presented in Table 1 for each licensed area.

Table 1 Total number of badgers removed per licensed area

Area	Minimum Number	Maximum Number	Badgers Removed	Removed by controlled shooting	Removed by cage trapping
Area 1 – Gloucestershire	125	540	132	105	27
Area 2 – Somerset	109	578	84	58	26
Area 3 - Dorset	163	383	83	70	13
Area 4 – Cornwall	131	380	114	91	23
Area 5 – Cornwall	152	461	54	45	9
Area 6 – Devon	294	1173	248	172	76
Area 7 – Devon	145	455	150	137	13
Area 8 – Dorset	465	1685	708	648	60
Area 9 – Gloucestershire	219	1118	513	474	39
Area 10 - Herefordshire	90	359	164	154	10

Safety of the operations

Operations in all licensed areas were carried out to agreed standards of public safety. All contractors continued to receive training prior to the commencement of operations in 2020 on the requirements of the published Best Practice Guides, lessons learned and safety. In relation to the use of firearms, no incidents affecting public safety were reported in any of the areas.

Humaneness of controlled shooting

In SBC areas, Natural England assesses compliance with the standards set out in the Best Practice Guides for the controlled shooting of free-ranging badgers and cage trapping and dispatch of badgers through risk-based monitoring. Monitoring is conducted by exception only and usually based on intel. There was one self-reported contractor shooting event where a badger was shot at but not retrieved in Area 8 - Dorset. Natural England investigated this shooting event to ascertain the circumstances and concluded the badger was wounded and lost. This represents 0.04% of the total number of badgers removed.

Sett surveys

Following the advice provided by Natural England’s Chief Scientist in February 2019, sett surveys were undertaken in the three continuing areas prior to re-authorisation in 2020. Active setts were identified in all three areas which confirmed that badgers were still present on accessible land. Sett surveys will be required to be undertaken in all 10 licensed areas prior to re-authorisation in 2021 to confirm the continued presence of active setts.

Natural England Chief Scientist’s advice on the outcome of supplementary badger control 2020

The badger population reductions achieved in the ten SBC Areas have been evaluated on the basis of the numbers and locations of badgers culled, the numbers culled against effort over time, and our assessments of the level and spatial distribution of culling effort deployed.

Based on the available information, four out of the ten Areas (Areas 1, 7, 9 and 10) deployed a sufficient level and spatial distribution of culling effort and removed the minimum number of badgers set, and conclude that they have completed effective supplementary culls.

In a further four Areas, (Areas 2, 4, 5 and 6), whilst these companies did not achieve the minimum number that was set, the spatial distribution of badger control activity and the level of culling effort that was deployed, suggests that the reduced badger population required by the policy has been maintained. As such, it has been concluded that effective supplementary culls have also taken place in these four areas.

In one Area (Area 8 – Dorset), although the minimum number of badgers set was removed, the spatial distribution of activity was marginally below that expected. However, as a sufficient level of culling effort was deployed across the area, I concluded that an effective supplementary cull took place.

The final Area, Area 3 – Dorset, did not deploy a sufficient level of effort, and the spatial distribution of this effort also fell short of expectations and they did not remove the minimum number of badgers set. Consequently I concluded that this Area did not complete an effective supplementary cull and further investigation will be required before any consideration of re-authorisation in 2021.

The minimum and maximum numbers for 2021 will be set in line with Defra’s commitments under the Bern Convention. We will continue to ensure that local extinction does not occur in order to protect the UK’s badger population. We will also continue to undertake surveillance and monitoring of other protected species in order to ensure that we avoid any adverse consequences on them.

Dr Tim Hill
Chief Scientist, Natural England

Chief Veterinary Officer’s advice on the outcome of supplementary badger control 2020

The aim of supplementary badger control is to preserve the disease control benefits which are expected from the completion of a four-year badger control operation. In order to achieve this, supplementary control needs to be effective in maintaining a reduced level of badger population.

The badger population reductions achieved in the ten areas have been evaluated on the basis of the numbers and locations of badgers culled, the numbers culled against effort over time, and Natural England’s independent assessments of the level and spatial distribution of culling effort deployed.

Based on the available information, the Chief Veterinary Officer’s (CVO) advice is that nine of the ten areas delivered sufficient levels of effort and coverage required to be confident of achieving disease control benefits despite some areas not having met their minimum number. A reduction in the badger population has been maintained in those nine areas and an effective supplementary cull has taken place.

Given the lower level of badger population reduction in Area-3 Dorset last year, culling should only continue there in 2021 provided there are reasonable grounds for confidence that it can be carried out more effectively than it was last year.

Christine Middlemiss
Chief Veterinary Officer

1. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bovine-tb-authorisation-for-badger-control-in-2017 ↩

2. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/advice-to-natural-england-on-setting-minimum-and-maximum-numbers-of-badgers-to-be-controlled-in-2020 ↩