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Badgers and bovine tuberculosis in the UK: a reappraisal needed

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 January 2023

Martin Hancox
Martin Hancox*
Affiliation:
Stroud Gloucestershire
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Sir, The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) launched a new five-year badger culling scheme on December 8 1993, as part of its cattle tuberculosis (TB) eradication programme. After 23 years, there is still no real evidence that badger culling has reduced cattle TB, and a government report even seven years ago noted that culls were not cost-effective and logically should cease (Dunnet et al 1986). There are now plausible grounds for questioning the scientific assumptions underpinning the badger culling scheme, which are neatly epitomized by the two different situations in the UK.

Type
Letters
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 3 , Issue 3 , August 1994 , pp. 253 - 254
Copyright
© 1994 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

References

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