With the campaign to stop the badger cull in full flow, tonight's blog is dedicated to this most beautiful and iconic mammal. The badger is currently in real and imminent danger of a cull intended to prevent the transmission of bovine TB, but which all the scientific evidence indicates will fail to address TB in cattle and may in fact make the situation worse as badger populations disperse. A far more sustainable solution is in the development of oral vaccines and the wider use of injectable vaccines, better bio-security around farms and changes to EU legislation to enable the vaccination of cattle. Decimating the badger population will barely touch the TB in cattle problem (estimates are of a 16% reduction in bovine TB as the result of destroying 70% of the badger population).
Please help protect this beautiful and iconic symbol of British wildlife by signing the government e-petition launched by Brian May at http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/38257 (UK citizens only, and don't forget to respond to the verification email you'll receive). 
Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 7D and EF 24-105 F4L IS USM lens.
derWandersmann
20 Sep 2012I'm not a UK citizen, but you have my signature in spirit.
SittingFox
20 Sep 2012I'm not sure I've ever seen an environmental issue where opinion across the spectrum (from the public to scientists) is so conclusive and so ignored. This is the kind of thing I'd expect in Ontario, not the UK. I don't usually drink milk anyway but will certainly be boycotting it from the counties in question.
Sadly TB is also the stated reason for the slaughter of bison north of Yellowstone, even though the evidence of bison-to-cattle infection is paltry. It's high time to overhaul the entire food production industry and make it reward environmentally-friendly practice rather than generating cull after cull.
Words
21 Sep 2012dW, I know we do, and it's appreciated.
Words
21 Sep 2012Adele, well said. It is quite astounding how little regard is being given to the extensive science that says this simply won't work. And they don't even know how many badgers there are in any area so a target of 70% mortality is unmeasurable and presumably therefore unachievable; though whether they'll go above the target (and wipe out entire badger populations) or below (and have no impact on bTB) is also impossible to tell at this stage. Madness.
gdare
21 Sep 2012Very sad. I am sorry I can't sign a petition.
derWandersmann
21 Sep 2012Originally posted by Words:
No … Parliament.
serola
21 Sep 2012I wonder, if they get the oral vaccination developed, then can someone like you Words participate in vaccination. Nature photographers could be good at this because they know where those badgers move 🙂
Words
21 Sep 2012Sami, nice thought but I'd be out of my depth with that sort of thing. It would need training and better scientific control than I could manage. But an oral vaccination would certainly be more effective than the cull.
serola
23 Sep 2012Well, at least nature photographers could give tips where the badgers are seen 🙂
Words
26 Sep 2012True!