United Kingdom 2013 – England badger culling policy commencement
Government Policy
In Effect
August 27, 2013
Summary
On 27 August 2013, Defra announced that the first licensed badger culls had commenced in two pilot areas in West Gloucestershire and West Somerset, marking the operational start of England’s farmer-led badger culling programme under the government’s bovine tuberculosis (bTB) control policy. The culls were licensed by Natural England under section 10(2)(a) of the Protection of Badgers Act 1992, which permits killing of badgers for the purpose of preventing the spread of disease. The policy framework was established by Defra’s December 2011 document “The Government’s policy on Bovine TB and badger control in England,” which committed to enabling coordinated, farmer-led culling in high-incidence bTB areas over minimum four-year periods, targeting removal of at least 70% of the local badger population annually. During the first 2013 season, 940 badgers were recorded as culled in Somerset and 921 in Gloucestershire. From 2015 onward, the programme expanded from the two pilot areas to additional licensed cull zones across England; by 2017, 21 cull areas covering approximately 8,560 km² were licensed, with 19,274 badgers culled in that year.
Background Context
Bovine tuberculosis had been identified by Defra as the most pressing animal health problem in England, with a 25-year upward trend in herd incidence documented from the late 1980s to 2010. In 2010, nearly 25,000 cattle were slaughtered for bTB control in England, and 10.8% of all cattle herds were under movement restrictions for some period due to TB incidents, rising to 22.7% in the West and South West. Existing control measures focused on cattle-based testing, surveillance, and slaughter of reactor animals, which Defra characterised as insufficient in areas where badgers constituted a wildlife reservoir of Mycobacterium bovis. The Randomised Badger Culling Trial (RBCT), conducted between 1998 and 2006, tested proactive and reactive culling approaches; its results indicated approximately 23% reduction in confirmed bTB herd incidence inside culled areas but a 24–25% increase in adjacent land attributed to perturbation of badger social structure. The Independent Scientific Group’s 2007 final report advised that badger culling as conducted in the RBCT was unlikely to contribute positively to TB control, but Defra’s 2011 policy interpreted the RBCT as evidence that sustained, large-scale proactive culling could reduce incidence when designed to mitigate perturbation. The National Farmers’ Union coordinated pilot implementation on behalf of farming interests; Badger Trust, RSPCA, and Wildlife Trusts opposed the policy throughout the consultation and implementation process. The original 2012 pilot culls were postponed after Owen Paterson announced on 23 October 2012 that farmers could not be confident of achieving the 70% target removal.
System Impact
Direction
Expands Exploitation
Type
Alters Legal Basis
Significance
Moderate
Natural England issued Badger Disease Control Licences for two pilot areas — West Gloucestershire (approximately 150 km²) and West Somerset (approximately 150 km²) — specifying geographic boundaries, permitted methods (controlled free shooting and cage-trapping followed by shooting), and minimum and maximum annual cull numbers. During the first 2013 season, 940 badgers were culled in Somerset and 921 in Gloucestershire, with both areas receiving licence extensions after the initial six-week window. Pre-cull population estimates placed the local badger population at approximately 2,657–4,079 in West Gloucestershire and 1,972–2,973 in West Somerset, indicating that the 2013 culls achieved partial rather than full 70% target removal in at least one area. The Independent Expert Panel, established to monitor the 2013 pilots, published its assessment in April 2014, identifying concerns about humaneness and marksmanship standards for controlled free shooting; Defra subsequently modified operational guidance. The programme transitioned from two pilot areas in 2013–2014 to three areas in 2015 (adding Dorset) and expanded to 21 licensed areas covering 8,560 km² by 2017. By 2020 the programme had licensed areas across multiple English counties, with annual cull totals exceeding 30,000 badgers. No court decision has annulled the 2011 policy or the 2013 commencement; later policy reviews have explored phasing out intensive four-year culls in favour of vaccination or epidemiological culling approaches.
Anticipated Effects
If the badger culling programme is sustained across sufficient area and duration as specified in the 2011 policy framework, Defra modelling based on RBCT extrapolations projected an average net reduction of approximately 16% in new confirmed bTB herd incidents across a 150 km² cull area plus 2 km ring over nine years; this projection is conditional on high culling efficiency and effective mitigation of perturbation effects.
If culling is carried out at insufficient intensity or with significant non-participating land within cull zones, perturbation — disruption of badger social structure increasing ranging behaviour — would be expected to increase bTB incidence in areas adjacent to cull boundaries, potentially offsetting gains within cull areas.
If the programme transitions from intensive four-year culls toward vaccination-based or epidemiological culling approaches as indicated by later policy reviews, the annual scale of badger killing within individual areas would be expected to decrease, with potential effects on local badger population recovery and long-term bTB incidence trajectories that are not yet established in available sources.
Significance Rationale
Assigned Expands Exploitation (impact direction) because the policy authorises and operationalises systematic licensed killing of badgers — a protected wild species — in defined areas of England where such killing was not previously carried out at comparable scale under a formal programme. The 2013 pilots removed 1,861 badgers; subsequent expansion to 21 areas produced 19,274 badgers killed in 2017 alone. This constitutes a documented increase in lethal interventions directed at a wild species initiated by a government policy decision.
Assigned Alters Legal Basis (impact type) because the primary mechanism is the policy operationalising existing statutory powers under section 10(2)(a) of the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 to enable Natural England to license farmer-led killing of a protected species at scale across designated high-incidence areas. Before the policy, badgers were protected and systematic culling at this scale was not authorised; the policy and associated licensing framework changed what is authorised in practice.
Assigned Moderate significance because the policy directly affects badger populations in designated high-risk bTB areas — substantial in scale within those areas but partial coverage of England’s total badger range. By 2017 the programme covered approximately 8,560 km² of England through 21 licensed areas, indicating material but geographically bounded impact relative to the national badger population.
The duration and persistence of the scale change in badger culling is not established in available sources; subsequent policy reviews indicate potential transition from intensive culling toward vaccination-based approaches, but the long-term trajectory of badger population levels in England remains undetermined.
Key Actors
Defra authored the December 2011 policy document and directed Natural England on licensing criteria and conditions. Secretary of State Owen Paterson announced the commencement of the 2013 pilots on 27 August 2013. Natural England issued Badger Disease Control Licences for the pilot areas, specifying geographic boundaries, methods, duration, and numerical targets. Farmer and landowner consortia in West Gloucestershire and West Somerset, coordinated by the National Farmers’ Union, organised and financed operational culling activities under licence. The Independent Expert Panel, established by Defra, assessed the humaneness and effectiveness of controlled free shooting during the 2013 pilots and published findings in April 2014. The Animal and Plant Health Agency provided veterinary and epidemiological advice and participated in monitoring. Badger Trust, RSPCA, Wildlife Trusts, and the League Against Cruel Sports publicly opposed the policy and organised advocacy and protest activity.
Editorial Correction Notice
Key industries — taxonomy gap: No existing SE industry taxonomy term applies cleanly to licensed wildlife culling as a disease-control measure. Meat and Dairy are the industries the policy is designed to protect, but the policy does not directly act within those industries; it acts in wildlife management. Pest Control exists as a Working Animal Systems child term, but the badger cull involves no working animals. The absence of a Wildlife Management or Wildlife Culling industry term is flagged for taxonomy review. No key_industries assignment is made; this should be resolved at database level before this record moves to Review.
Geographic scope: The policy applies to England only. United Kingdom is assigned as the affected country because England is not a separate Countries CPT record. Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland have distinct bTB and badger control policies.
Development date: Set to 27 August 2013 — the date Defra announced commencement of culling in the pilot areas. The December 2011 policy document is the precursor policy decision; the 27 August 2013 announcement is the discrete datable event marking operational commencement.
Trajectory: The scale change trajectory is genuinely uncertain. Available sources do not establish whether badger populations in culled areas recover after programme completion, stabilise at lower levels, or continue to decline. Later policy reviews indicating potential transition toward vaccination-based approaches may alter future trajectories, but no definitive long-term outcome is documented.
Affected animals — Badgers CPT record: Badgers are the directly targeted species in this development. A Badgers Animals CPT record does not currently exist in the database — SE’s Animals CPT documents species within industrial exploitation systems, and the badger cull programme constitutes a government-sanctioned wildlife exploitation system outside conventional agricultural production. A database-level decision is required: either (a) create a Badgers CPT record documenting the species within the context of the England bTB culling programme, or (b) note the gap and leave affected_animals unassigned pending that decision. The development cannot be adequately represented without an animal assignment given that badgers are the primary affected species.
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