Policy paper

Summary of 2020 badger control operations

Updated 27 May 2021

Applies to England

Natural England Chief Scientist’s advice on the outcome of badger control operations, 2020.

Effectiveness of industry-led culling

The outcome of this year’s operations indicates that industry-led licensed badger control continues to deliver the level of effectiveness required by the policy to be confident of achieving disease control benefits:

• New areas licensed in 2020 (Areas 44 to 54) effectively applied lessons learned from badger control operations in previous years to make a successful start to their operations. All 11 areas applied an appropriate level of targeted effort across their respective areas to achieve their minimum number where appropriate.
• All 33 areas in their 2nd to 4th years (Areas 11 to 43) applied an appropriate level of targeted effort to maintain the population at a reduced level.
• Areas were set a minimum number of badgers to be removed by Day 42 of their cull. These numbers were adjusted after Day 28 of operations to reflect activity (both badger and contractor) on the ground. Where factors such as late maize harvest or poor weather conditions hampered coverage of some land parcels, Areas expressed a desire to continue beyond 42 days to maximise disease control benefits. To reflect this continuation, the minimum number of badgers to be removed from these areas was increased. One area (Area 18 - Somerset) achieved their minimum number at Day 42 but finished marginally below their uplifted minimum number. Nevertheless, they deployed the required level of effort and coverage and so delivered an effective cull.

As in previous years, minimum and maximum numbers were updated once badger control operations were underway as initial estimates of badger abundance were refined by actual circumstances observed in the field. This being necessary despite the widespread use of sett surveys to provide field evidence of the size of the badger population.

Safety of operations

Operations across all areas were carried out to agreed standards of public safety, which is a reflection of quality of training that contractors received and the assessments they had to pass. No significant incidents affecting public safety were reported in relation to the use of firearms.

Humaneness of controlled shooting

Contractors continued to show high levels of discipline and compliance with the Best Practice Guide (see Annex B). The level of accuracy of controlled shooting is comparable to previous years and compares favourably with other control activities.

Dr Tim Hill
Chief Scientist, Natural England

UK Chief Veterinary Officer’s advice and conclusions on disease control benefits

In 2020, I have continued to provide oversight and advice on disease control and humaneness of the operations for all 42 existing intensive cull areas (Areas 11 to 31 and 33 to 53). My advice for Areas 1 to 10, which are currently undertaking licensed Supplementary Badger Control, will be released separately.

With Natural England’s Chief Scientist, we have concluded that all existing cull areas have delivered the level of effectiveness, according to coverage and effort, required to be confident of achieving disease control benefits, including Areas 44 to 54 which began culling in 2020. Areas 11 to 21 concluded their fourth year of culling operations and will be eligible to apply for a Supplementary Badger Control licence in 2021.

In order for the remaining cull areas to maximise disease control benefits, they should continue culling to maintain the level of reduction in the badger population. I anticipate for existing areas, if the areas continue to be effective, to see similar benefits of reduced disease incidence in cattle over their licence periods, as shown in Downs et al. (2019)^{[footnote 1]}.

Based on the monitoring activity provided by Natural England, my view remains that the likelihood of suffering in badgers culled by controlled shooting is broadly within the range of those reported for hunting or killing of other terrestrial mammals.

In line with previous years, I continued having responsibility for monitoring the operations in the Low Risk Area of England (LRA) badger control areas. This is in line with the aim of badger control in the LRA being eradication of disease.

In Area 32-Cumbria, a reduction in overall apparent prevalence in M. bovis positive badger carcases was observed between 2018 and 2019^{[footnote 2]}. This gives a positive indication that the area is moving towards our goal of disease eradication in both cattle and badgers . As infection still remained in the central ‘Minimum Infected Area’, I recommended that culling should take place there, for a third year and in the 2019 extension areas for a second year. However, the rest of the area has had no identified badger infection for two years. In recognition of this, I recommended that this part carried out vaccination rather than culling.

Area 32 applied an appropriate level of targeted effort and sett coverage across the cull area and so is considered to have achieved a successful third year of culling. For a third year, badger carcases underwent post-mortem examination (PME) and sampling for culture in an attempt to isolate M. bovis.

Upon my recommendation, Natural England also licensed culling in a second area in the LRA for 2020, Area 54-Lincolnshire. This was due to the identification of M. bovis positive found-dead badger carcases within this Hotspot 23^{[footnote 3]}. The cull company applied an appropriate level of effort and coverage of setts and so the area is considered to have achieved a successful first year of culling. In line with the policy and our actions in Area 32, carcases removed from Area 54 will also undergo PME and sampling for culture.

Results from surveillance of badger carcases from the LRA culls will be available in due course. This data, alongside cattle surveillance and whole genome sequencing, will continue to inform the type of badger disease control carried out in subsequent years in each of these two areas.

Christine Middlemiss
UK Chief Veterinary Officer

Background

On 7 September 2020, Defra announced^{[footnote 4]} 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 had licensed and authorised Badger Disease Control operations across 44 areas in Avon, Cheshire, Cornwall, Cumbria, Derbyshire, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Oxfordshire, Shropshire, Somerset, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Wiltshire, and Worcestershire.

Badger control operations, lasting at least six weeks, took place in each area between 1 September and 3 November 2020. This document sets out the outcomes from those areas.

Effectiveness

Estimates of the badger population in each control area were supplied by Defra for the purpose of giving advice to Natural England on setting the minimum and maximum number of badgers to be removed in the licences. The estimates, methodologies and rationale used were published in September 2020^{[footnote 5]}.

As in previous years, Natural England monitored the progress in each control area closely. The levels of contractor shooting effort, number of cage-traps set and number of badgers removed were recorded on a daily basis in all accessible land parcels. This provided Natural England with regular information on the numbers of badgers removed, the amount of effort deployed by each control company and its spatial distribution. This enabled a detailed assessment of the progress that each control company was making towards achieving their minimum and maximum numbers (where appropriate) and allowed Natural England to assess whether resources were being effectively deployed across all accessible land.

Updating minimum and maximum numbers

As set out in Section D of Defra’s advice to Natural England, numbers were reviewed as operations progressed to assess whether the badger population in each control area was higher or lower than the initial estimate suggested. Based on an assessment of the data on Day 28 in 42 control areas^{[footnote 6]}, Defra advised Natural England to adjust the minimum and maximum numbers upwards in 18 control areas and downwards in the other 24 control areas to better reflect the evidence of badger abundance. Details of the calculations can be found in Annex A1.

Progress towards minimum and maximum numbers

In 2020, 41 control areas achieved their minimum number and did not exceed their maximum number, see Table 1. One area (Area 18 – Somerset) achieved its updated Day 42 minimum number (see Annex A1), however it was agreed by Natural England’s Chief Scientist and the Chief Veterinary Officer that the area could continue beyond 42 days. This was to ensure coverage of those parcels that were subject to late maize harvest and continued badger activity in order to maximise disease control benefits. Like all other areas that continued beyond 42 days, they consequently received an additional increase of 1.5% per additional operational day and finished marginally below this number.

Table 1: Number of badgers removed by areas 11 to 54 during 2020 badger control operations.

Area	Updated minimum number	Updated maximum number	Badgers removed	Removed by controlled shooting	Removed by cage-trapping
Area 11 – Cheshire*	235	319	269	243	26
Area 12 – Devon*	278	377	312	201	111
Area 13 – Devon	211	287	258	105	153
Area 14 – Devon	179	243	213	175	38
Area 15 – Devon*	171	233	199	137	62
Area 16 – Dorset	691	937	827	717	110
Area 17 – Somerset*	282	382	341	299	42
Area 18 – Somerset*	148	200	137	117	20
Area 19 – Wiltshire*	454	617	497	420	77
Area 20 – Wiltshire	376	510	401	249	152
Area 21 – Wiltshire	361	490	450	355	95
Area 22 – Cornwall	679	921	849	569	280
Area 23 – Devon*	776	1051	936	730	206
Area 24 – Devon*	180	244	203	98	105
Area 25 – Devon*	119	162	158	80	78
Area 26 – Devon	239	324	324	245	79
Area 27 – Devon	50	68	68	34	34
Area 28 – Devon*	101	136	132	57	75
Area 29 – Gloucestershire*	590	800	731	564	167
Area 30 – Somerset*	873	1185	1020	938	82
Area 31 – Staffordshire*	1274	1729	1560	1340	220
Area 32 – Cumbria	N/A	N/A	134	73	61
Area 33 – Avon	542	735	715	576	139
Area 34 – Cheshire*	1233	1672	1420	1154	266
Area 35 – Cornwall*	1544	2096	1773	1031	742
Area 36 – Staffordshire	437	594	525	457	68
Area 37 – Devon*	615	835	732	529	203
Area 38 – Devon*	1198	1627	1360	1065	295
Area 39 – Dorset*	357	485	395	258	137
Area 40 – Herefordshire*	1035	1404	1145	921	224
Area 41 – Staffordshire	566	768	706	541	165
Area 42 – Wiltshire	1402	1903	1784	1569	215
Area 43 – Wiltshire	653	886	777	661	116
Area 44 – Avon*	1939	2631	2036	1861	175
Area 45 – Derbyshire	2530	3434	2916	2296	620
Area 46 – Gloucestershire*	421	572	448	425	23
Area 47 – Herefordshire*	1736	2357	1777	1239	538
Area 48 – Leicestershire	591	802	714	496	218
Area 49 – Oxfordshire	853	1158	1040	639	401
Area 50 – Shropshire*	3087	4189	3580	2549	1031
Area 51 – Somerset*	1912	2596	2396	1923	473
Area 52 – Warwickshire*	1551	2104	1728	1443	285
Area 53 – Wiltshire	508	690	517	395	122
Area 54 – Lincolnshire	N/A	N/A	139	110	29

Minimum and maximum numbers for areas* include an additional increase of 1.5% per operational day given continuation in those areas beyond 42 days, see Annex A1.

More data on these areas can be found in Annex A2. Natural England will use the data on effort levels and numbers of badgers removed to inform its requirements for future badger control operations.

Accuracy of controlled shooting

Shooting accuracy was used as a proxy measure for ‘humaneness’ and was assessed using observations from Natural England Monitors of badgers being shot at under controlled shooting conditions.

Summary of controlled shooting observations

Monitors observed 184 shooting events where free-ranging badgers were shot at using Best Practice Guide compliant rifles and ammunition. Of these, 163 badgers were shot at and retrieved and 21 were shot at but not retrieved (20 categorised as missed shots and 1 as wounded and lost). The use of firearms as a control technique in wildlife management carries an element of risk with regard to the wounding of individual animals. While the contractor has control over the condition of the firearm, ammunition used, zeroing of the rifle and shooting technique, once the trigger is released, external parameters outside of the contractor’s control come into play. Wounding can result for a number of reasons, with movement of the target species simultaneously with trigger release being the most common.

The non-retrieval rate of 11.4% (95% confidence interval 7.4%–16.6%^{[footnote 7]} ) observed in 2020, is comparable to that observed during the previous seven years of operations (11.4% in 2019).

As with 2019, post-mortem examination of badgers removed by controlled shooting from Areas 11 to 54 would only have been carried out by exception. This year, none were requested.

More details on compliance monitoring conducted during badger control operations can be found in Annex B.

Safety of operations

Operations in all 44 control areas were carried out to a high standard of public safety. All existing badger control companies’ contractors continued to receive training prior to the commencement of operations in 2020 on the requirements of the published Best Practice Guides^{[footnote 8]}, lessons learned and safety.

In relation to the use of firearms in all 44 control areas, no significant incidents affecting public safety were reported. Contractors continued to show high levels of discipline and adherence to the Best Practice Guides, see Annex B.

Conclusions

The results from 2020 indicate that all 44 badger control companies have delivered the level and extent of badger removal required to be confident of disease control benefits and that the operations were carried out to a high standard of public safety.

The levels of controlled shooting accuracy achieved in this year’s operations were similar to those in the previous seven years. The likelihood of suffering in badgers is comparable with the range of outcomes reported when other control activities, currently accepted by society, have been assessed. Licensed control companies will need to continue to ensure that their contractors receive rigorous training to maintain high standards of effectiveness, humaneness and safety.

1. Downs et al. (2019) Assessing effects from four years of industry-led badger culling in England on the incidence of bovine tuberculosis in cattle, 2013-2017. Scientific Reports. 9. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-49957-6 ↩

2. Defra (2020) ‘Setting the minimum and maximum numbers in badger cull areas in 2020: Annex B & C’ https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/915124/badger-cull-areas-min-max-2020.pdf ↩

3. A hotspot area, defined by APHA, is an area in England or Wales of enhanced surveillance area TB breakdowns with confirmed disease of uncertain origin emerging in a region of historically low TB incidence ↩

4. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bovine-tb-authorisation-for-badger-control-in-2020 ↩

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

6. The remaining areas (Area 32 – Cumbria and Area 54 – Lincolnshire) did not receive minimum and maximum numbers as these are of less utility in the Low Risk Area given the aim of preventing disease spreading within wildlife and aiding eradication of disease. ↩

7. Estimates of confidence intervals for proportions were produced using a “Modified Jeffries interval” (Brown and others, 2001). ↩

8. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/controlled-shooting-of-badgers-in-the-field-under-licence-to-prevent-the-spread-of-bovine-tb-in-cattle–2 and https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cage-trapping-and-dispatch-of-badgers-under-licence-to-prevent-the-spread-of-bovine-tb-in-cattle ↩