Farmer-funded research body, AgriSearch, has made a detailed response to a DAERA public consultation on potential options to deal with bovine TB in wildlife.
The consultation, which closes on 9 October, sets out three main options in TB hotspot areas to include vaccinating badgers, a non-selective cull by controlled shooting and a Test, Vaccinate or Remove (TVR) approach as trialled in Co Down between 2014 and 2018.
The DAERA consultation and supporting documents run to hundreds of pages, but despite all the information presented, AgriSearch points out it is important to examine how the evidence has been “interpreted, weighted and applied”.
Their document does that in detail, itself running to over 350 pages, with 14 different recommendations made, most of which relate to how evidence is assessed.
The overall conclusion is that TB in wildlife must be addressed alongside “effective cattle controls” and that wildlife intervention should aim to achieve “a substantial and sustained” reduction in TB.
The analysis does note that non-selective culling of badgers has the strongest direct field evidence to show it will reduce cattle TB. The AgriSearch document also recognises that other factors, such as public acceptability, come into play.
SHARING OPTIONS