Page 11 - Wildlife News August 2018

Bernwood Meadows, part of the Bernwood Forest, which could be
significantly affected by the proposed Oxford to Cambridge Expressway.

(RHEA DRAGUISKY)

Rare black hairstreak butterfly could be at risk.
(JAN DEACON)

Read more about the Oxford to Cambridge

Expressway, including our response to Highways
England at bbowt.org.uk/expressway

Badger cull worries (ALICE BAILEY)

The Wildlife Trust is alarmed by the Government’s
proposal to extend the badger cull to
Oxfordshire and Berkshire. Culling elsewhere has
been found to be ineffective and inhumane and
has resulted in thousands of healthy badgers
being killed.

Over the past four years we have extended a
programme to trap and vaccinate badgers from
our own nature reserves to include neighbouring
private estates and farms. A £66,000 grant
awarded by Defra earlier this year will enable us
to continue and further expand our vaccination
work for the next four years. This will be wasted if
vaccinated badgers are then killed.

Our vaccination programme is aiming to slow
the progress of bovine TB by creating a buffer
zone of vaccinated animals. Culling badgers in or
near areas where we are vaccinating will disrupt
badger populations, making a buffer zone harder
to achieve and wasting taxpayers’ money.

We are poised for a final decision by the
Government, expected sometime towards the
end of summer. You can read more about our
vaccination programme at bbowt.org.uk/
badgers-and-bovine-tb

Julia Lofthouse, Mammal Project Officer

Wildlife news / August 2018 11