Government aims to end badger culling within five years

The government has pledged to end badger culling in the next five years before summer 2029.

In the past decade, more than 230,000 badgers and 278,000 cattle have been killed to control the spread of bovine tuberculosis (TB) - a bacterial infection that can be life-threatening in humans unless treated with antibiotics.

The Labour government will replace culling with a new vaccination strategy for badgers and cattle to ensure they are "less susceptible to catching and transmitting TB".

The RSPCA has welcomed the government's announcement to end badger culling, but is calling for it to be implemented far earlier than 2029.

RSPCA Chief Executive Chris Sherwood said: “This announcement is really welcome and marks a watershed moment in the fight against bovine tuberculosis.

"We are concerned however, that badgers will still face up to another five years of being needlessly killed in the name of bovine TB eradication.

“Bovine TB is an issue which is devastating to farming communities.

"For many years, we have been pressing for a more science-led approach to solve this terrible disease. 230,000 badgers have been pointlessly killed in the cull since 2013, despite government data which found no evidence that culling badgers has had an effect on eliminating tuberculosis in cattle."

This plan includes a badger vaccinator field force, vaccination study, badger population survey, and national wildlife surveillance programme.

The vaccinator field force aims to increase badger vaccinations rapidly to reduce TB rates and protect badgers with the aim of speeding up progress towards making England officially TB-free.

The full plan will be co-designed with farmers, vets, scientists, and conservationists.

It will include enhanced cattle testing, measures to reduce disease spread through cattle movements, and widespread badger vaccination.

Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs, Daniel Zeichner said: TB has "devastated" British farmers and wildlife for "far too long"."It has placed dreadful hardship and stress on farmers who continue to suffer the loss of valued herds and has taken a terrible toll on our badger populations," he said.

"No more. Our comprehensive TB eradication package will allow us to end the badger cull by the end of this parliament and stop the spread of this horrific disease."

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Musician Sir Brian May said he was "very disappointed" with Keir Starmer's government, saying it had allowed badger culling to continue until at least 2026 under existing licences.

The government confirmed that existing culls will proceed to provide clarity for farmers.

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