Appeal as nearly 2,000 badgers culled in Derbyshire in 2022 costing county over £335k

Figures published yesterday show that another 33,627 badgers were culled nationally, 1,939 of those in Derbyshire.

Police costs incurred for the badger cull in Derbyshire during 2022 amounted to £335,655.

These costs are covered in full by Defra (the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs).

Badger culling is part of a Defra policy, licensed by Natural England, to carry out culls in selected rural areas to eradicate Bovine Tuberculosis by 2038.

Since the cull began, over 210,000 badgers have been culled, up to half the estimated population.

Dave Savage at Derbyshire Wildlife Trust said: “We understand the hardship that bovine TB (bTB) causes in the farming community and the need to find the right mechanisms to control the disease. However, the badger cull is not the answer.

“Badgers are not the primary cause of the spread of bTB in cattle: the primary route of infection is from cattle-to-cattle. Regulations and restrictions on cattle movements as well as the development of cattle vaccine are the best approach for the farming industry and our wildlife.

“We welcome recent work being done to accelerate the introduction of an effective cattle vaccine and improved bTB testing in cattle, which offers the best long-term way to reduce bTB in the cattle population.”

The Badger Vaccination Programme at Derbyshire Wildlife Trust began in 2014 to demonstrate that badger vaccination was possible. The Trust continues to work closely with the Government to help train vaccinators across the country.