15 years on, 230,000 badgers dead, and no meaningful reduction in bTB in cattle. Lets end the cull now, not years down the line. Sign the petition govpetition.uk/700317 - ThreadSky

chrisgpackham.bsky.social • 48 days ago

15 years on, 230,000 badgers dead, and no meaningful reduction in bTB in cattle. Lets end the cull now, not years down the line.

Sign the petition https://govpetition.uk/700317

Comments

swaledalemutton.bsky.social•48 days ago

Apart from the huge reductions in bTB in livestock and wildlife?

Which then begs the question: Why are you lying?

bonniebeach.bsky.social•45 days ago

There was never any evidence for the badger cull. The Tories and their fatcat developers simply wanted excuses to build houses on precious land where badgers make their sets, raise their young and live their harmless lives.

swaledalemutton.bsky.social•45 days ago

There is loads of evidence showing how effective it is.
You just don't know about it.

bonniebeach.bsky.social•44 days ago

Please cite your sources.

swaledalemutton.bsky.social•43 days ago

The official data for one:

paul-e24.bsky.social•48 days ago

Signed

swaledalemutton.bsky.social•48 days ago

Pointless

paul-e24.bsky.social•48 days ago

What a waste-Tory twats

gemandmoll.bsky.social•47 days ago

Signed, obviously, but how will governments admit they were wrong?
And what a waste of money.

vincenth1.bsky.social•48 days ago

The wrong question and the wrong answer. Require the universities to develop a Marker within a vaccine for cattle. The marker for those who might swerve jabbing soon after birth. Then put an unholy fine on those who won't play the game. The issue isn't Badgers with TB.

swaledalemutton.bsky.social•45 days ago

Badgers are the main problem.

And we are developing new vaccines, but TB is one of the most difficult pathogens to vaccinate against.

vincenth1.bsky.social•45 days ago

No, the Department, and the embedded history with how they dealt with it is the problem. TB has been eradicated in the human herd. And yes, wildlife are carriers but vaccines for cattle is the answer. Provided a gene marker is installed to test between the vaccinated and infected.

swaledalemutton.bsky.social•44 days ago

It was eradicated in humans using vaccination.

The new DiVa vaccine/test will help a lot, but even then BCG is poorly immunogenic in cattle.

superdeterminism.bsky.social•43 days ago

The Method of Everything (https://doi.org/10.3389/frma.2024.1404371) presentation at the APS Global Physics Summit showed how science's methods are incomplete and why this discovery was wittingly ignored — https://temptdestiny.com/pdf/MAR-L04-00-Morales.pdf — at taxpayers' expense. Surely, we can do better than this.

adamwisent.bsky.social•47 days ago

Sadly the brilliant #CarlaDenyer of the English #Green party is standing down.Frankly speaking its other forgettable co-leader #AdrianRamsey should do the same thing.
Deputy leader #ZackPolanski would make a far better team co-leader alongside #EllieChowns.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/may/12/adrian-ramsay-stand-re-election-greens-co-leader-with-ellie-chowns

spedley.bsky.social•45 days ago

So does that mean the cull was effective? A lot of badgers dead but no increase in bTB in cattle, mission accomplished.
A bit like the millenium bug - billions spent but nothing happened so either a huge waste of money or very successful.

swaledalemutton.bsky.social•45 days ago

It was very effective, yes.
And continues to be effective

livinginnoddyland.bsky.social•45 days ago

Looking really, really hard for wiggle room to undermine the point?

spedley.bsky.social•45 days ago

No, I have no whether culling badgers is effective or not but the tweet was invalid logic.

livinginnoddyland.bsky.social•45 days ago

Did you just read your reply?

spedley.bsky.social•45 days ago

Not really, I'm in bright su light and can't see properly. I'm sure you can work out what my reply was.

livinginnoddyland.bsky.social•45 days ago

As you could have done with Chris’s tweet? Here’s why: it’s not fair to say the logic is invalid. It’s a reasonable, evidence-based inductive argument. It can be challenged, but not dismissed as illogical.

daisygill.bsky.social•44 days ago

Yet here in Northern Ireland the Ulster Farmer’s Union is pushing for a cull. It makes no sense and is so sad.

elhopkins.bsky.social•47 days ago

😔

ginhaze.bsky.social•48 days ago

Signed.
Now get it to 100,000 signatories.

mysticwaters.media•48 days ago

Modern day hunters, trappers and poachers prefer to shoot from the comfort of their vehicles. Many of the badgers are hit by vehicles, yes. But a lot are victims of lazy and cruel manboys with rifles and scopes. Poison is also a much used tool of their evil hobby.

wildernessview.bsky.social•47 days ago

Done. Thank you for sharing this Chris🦡

bridget1965.bsky.social•48 days ago

And once again, this is in England only. Wales and Scotland do not cull badgers. Scotland is Officially TB-free, and Wales has reduced bTB in cattle more effectively than England.

swaledalemutton.bsky.social•48 days ago

Scotland doesn't have bTB.
Wales does, and it is going up sharply because they don't cull.

Glad I could help.

bridget1965.bsky.social•48 days ago

I knew Scotland doesn't have bTB but the rest I took directly from https://www.badgertrust.org.uk/

swaledalemutton.bsky.social•48 days ago

Ah, that will explain why you are so badly informed.

Everything they publish is a lie, intended to con money out of the gullible.

cliveswinsco.bsky.social•48 days ago

https://wellbeingintl.org/the-uk-badger-cull-lies-damned-lies-and-statistics/

swaledalemutton.bsky.social•47 days ago

Oh look, more misinformation.

Well done.

livinginnoddyland.bsky.social•45 days ago

Nope, the overall trend in Wales indicates a slight decrease in new bTB herd incidents, suggesting that the disease is not currently rising at the national level. But please, evidence your claim?

swaledalemutton.bsky.social•45 days ago

It doesn't, no.
bTB is trending upwards in Wales.

Next stupid statement?

livinginnoddyland.bsky.social•45 days ago

Can you show me how stupid I am and point me to your evidence?

swaledalemutton.bsky.social•45 days ago

You are doing a good job yourself.

areyouyesyet.bsky.social•48 days ago

Exactly - it needs a proper testing regime for cattle, not a cull

swaledalemutton.bsky.social•48 days ago

No, it needs the cull because it is incredibly effective

areyouyesyet.bsky.social•47 days ago

Okay, here's where I think we digressed. I was talking about cattle testing and badger culling. My post was ambiguous

areyouyesyet.bsky.social•48 days ago

This details how Scotland has maintained official Bovine TB-free status since 2009 https://www.gov.scot/publications/bovine-tb/pages/testing-surveillance/

There is no badger cull

I see only one reason why the same regime wouldn't work in England. DEFRA

swaledalemutton.bsky.social•47 days ago

There is no bTB.

There, fixed it for you.

areyouyesyet.bsky.social•48 days ago

Obviously it is disastrous for a farmer to have to slaughter cattle for TB. 21,586 were slaughtered for TB in England in 2024, only 246 in Scotland where per-capita cattle numbers are much larger

I would conclude that England's badger cull isn't working

swaledalemutton.bsky.social•47 days ago

And there is no endemic bTB in badgers.

You missed the most vital piece of information.

vetontheweb.bsky.social•10 days ago

Do a bit of TB history. There is so much out there and countless people with a little knowledge thinking they know better. It just never ends. In the 70s and 80s there was an almost successful TB eradication campaign based on test, remove reactors, gas badger setts on infected farms. /1

stormcloud-999.bsky.social•47 days ago

Except all the data says it isn't

swaledalemutton.bsky.social•47 days ago

Seems you haven't looked at the data:

areyouyesyet.bsky.social•47 days ago

Thanks, I'll look when back at desktop

livinginnoddyland.bsky.social•45 days ago

“No, it needs the cull because it is incredibly effective… …for my business interests”

swaledalemutton.bsky.social•45 days ago

No, at reducing bTB in livestock and wildlife

oxtale.bsky.social•46 days ago

Er no. Wales has NOT reduced TB more effectively than England. Unless you have data I haven't seen?

bridget1965.bsky.social•46 days ago

I took that directly from https://www.badgertrust.org.uk, which I presumed had up to date info. If it's not right, they should be rectify it.

oxtale.bsky.social•46 days ago

It's rubbish I'm afraid.

bridget1965.bsky.social•46 days ago

*should rectify* (no 'be')

denstella.bsky.social•48 days ago

Signed

debmcalister.bsky.social•47 days ago

Brian May’s documentary proves that the badger cull is not only cruel but useless in reducing bovine TB as well.

swaledalemutton.bsky.social•45 days ago

His "documentary" was fiction. It was made up to fool the gullible.

debmcalister.bsky.social•44 days ago

Are you a British farmer or scientist? I am not, though I do farm and have seen how bad TB can be in herds. My husband is a biologist and has read the scientific literature. He didn’t find that past culls helped. Would welcome a link proving otherwise. Not many badgers in NE Texas, though.

swaledalemutton.bsky.social•44 days ago

Both.
I am a farmer and a research immunologist who is working on bTB.
And the literature shows very clearly that the cull is effective.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-54062-4

debmcalister.bsky.social•44 days ago

Thank you - I look forward to reading it with my husband. As I said, not many badgers in my part of Texas, but diseases that affect ruminants can be devastating. We have several species of antelope, reindeer and domestic deer, bison and 8 cattle breeds.

swaledalemutton.bsky.social•43 days ago

It is a problem for a lot of wildlife, but badgers are especially susceptible to infection and transmission

rav3nw1ngs.bsky.social•47 days ago

Labour promised to end the cull. Once again they have lied and done nothing but dismantle our environmental laws to fill the pockets of developers. They're no better than the conservatives.

swaledalemutton.bsky.social•45 days ago

Because they know how effective it is.

rav3nw1ngs.bsky.social•44 days ago

It's not. TB in cattle hasn't changed at all. In fact hardly any of the badgers were tested for it after being shot and the ones that were, were negative. The most effective way of combating TB is vaccination and biosecurity but farmers always want to blame wildlife for their issues.

swaledalemutton.bsky.social•44 days ago

It is, yes.
The testing is irrelevant because the purpose of the cull is not to remove infected badgers. It is to reduce R0.
And you cannot vaccinate cattle at the moment as it would increase bTB, and vaccinating badgers does not work.

swaledalemutton.bsky.social•44 days ago

It is the badgers that are the issue.

rav3nw1ngs.bsky.social•43 days ago

Blaming wildlife for the failings of an industry is an old rhetoric, especially from the farmers. I'll never support farmers for their attack on our already scarce wildlife. It's a tragedy what is happening and nothing can justify it. The industry is the problem, not the badgers.

suetthemam.bsky.social•48 days ago

Gov't response 'OK. You know, and we know, it's nowt to do with badgers. But we don't want to upset the farmers, or we'll have bloody Farage on another bandwagon!' So badgers will continue to be culled until the next election. And just hope Reform/Tories don't get in, or it'll be square 1 again!

swaledalemutton.bsky.social•48 days ago

And yet badgers are the main reservoir of disease, and the cull has been incredibly successful at reducing incidence and prevalence.

Glad I could help

cliveswinsco.bsky.social•48 days ago

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0022710/brian-may-the-badgers-the-farmers-and-me

swaledalemutton.bsky.social•47 days ago

I see the care home is letting you on the internet again.

I see you are still posting nonsense.

suetthemam.bsky.social•47 days ago

Not a very grown up response. If you're so sure your position will bear scrutiny, leave it to do so. This looks as if you're uncertain, and scared of discussion.

swaledalemutton.bsky.social•47 days ago

I have been dealing with that one for some years.

He is rather confused about the whole thing, and will post long and illiterate rants about this subject.

I can post scientific literature, he posts propaganda:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-54062-4#Sec13

livinginnoddyland.bsky.social•45 days ago

You didn’t help? You’re a nobody?

swaledalemutton.bsky.social•45 days ago

I am knowledgeable. Which is why I am educating you

deliciouslegacy.bsky.social•43 days ago

Rude! They are immunologist and a farmer. Lot of knowledge there. You can disagree but they know their sh*t!

livinginnoddyland.bsky.social•42 days ago

They know shit is correct

joaneldwick.bsky.social•48 days ago

Can't understand why there are so many dead badgers on roads. Do drivers go after them or are they killed then left on roadside. They're not difficult to avoid on a quiet road.

livinginnoddyland.bsky.social•45 days ago

Agricultural workers and even some gardeners who have rugged enough vehicles, will go out of their way to run them down. Also badger baiters will dump them on the roadside

joaneldwick.bsky.social•48 days ago

Signed

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