There are more than 300,000 badgers in Britain. They are protected by laws originally introduced to stop badger-baiting but the government can grant licences to halt the spread of disease and for research. There are about 8.6 million cattle, 5.6 million in England and 1.3 million in Wales. Cattle TB cases have been rising steeply since the 1980s, and about one in six herds in western England and Wales were put under restrictions in 2007.
The precise relationship between TB in badgers and TB in cattle has been hotly disputed but the disease in cattle is moving steadily north with hot-spot areas in southwest England, Staffordshire, Derbyshire and south-west Wales. The cost to the government alone in terms of testing, compensation and other measures is likely to total over £1bn over the next five years. The disease is also costing farmers dearly.
Trial culls were conducted in south-west England between 1998 and 2005. In areas that involved trapping and shooting only badgers that might have caused TB in cattle, cattle breakdowns actually increased by 27%, probably because remaining badgers roamed more widely because of the disturbance. These consequences caused the suspension of these trials in 2003.
But culling continued, while in other areas badgers were killed "proactively". In these cases, TB breakdowns in cattle fell by 23%. The group monitoring the trials concluded that future culling areas needed to cover at least 265 square kilometres and continue for years to be effective. It did not believe culling badgers would meaningfully contribute to future control of TB in cattle.
However, the then chief scientific adviser to the government, Professor David King thought it could in hot spot areas, alongside other measures, including cattle controls. Environment minister Hilary Benn has yet to decide whether to authorise new culls. Wales was not involved in the trials and is preparing to go its own way with an "intensive" pilot cull in a hot spot area. Details will be announced in the autumn.