No you dont understand.To reduce their numbers lessens the chance of an infected badger getting to cattle.Yes infected badgers will escape being shot because visually you cannot tell one from another,but those who do still carry TB have less chance of comming into contact with non infected badgers.

DEFRA just want them managed to ensure healthy animals.

They are one species to be culled, deer are already culled.

Badgers also prey on other animals, such as hedgehogs, which are in growing need of some help as their numbers carry on decreasing. Badgers are not rare, and controlling their numbers will not be detrimental to the population overall. If a side effect is that the spread of TB is proven to be controlled, everyone's a winner.

Working on the railways, I've seen absolutely ridiculous amounts of money spent on the infrastructure, just to allow badgers to remain on an embankment, and great crested newts to live in a culvert. My mother's pond has great crested newts living in it in the middle of York, and as for badgers, they are so numerous in some areas that hedgehogs have been wiped out. My friends down in Wiltshire have a huge population of badgers surrounding their bit of the countryside, in their words, about the only useful thing they've done is get rid of all the wasps nests on/under ground.

Just because we have, as a population, caused problems with the ecology and allowed the various balance of nature to become out of control, doesn't mean at this point we should stand back and allow nature to now take it's course. For me, it's about achieving a best balance of nature, if that means erradicating alien species like mink, I'm all for it, and trying to ensure native species can thrive in numbers that ensure a healthy population overall.

They pass it onto cattle through their faeces/urine Helen which is deposited onto the grass which the cows eat.Then the cows deposit their waste onto the grass and inturn infects badgers digging in the soil-its a nether ending cycle.

Why are badgers the chosen carrier? They're not-deer carry it as well,but they have their population managed (deer stalking) so it never becomes a problem.Infact landowners are legally obliged to manage large deer numbers and if they dont the goverment will employ stalkers to cull herds...then bill the landowner!

Like i said previously,badgers have been protected since the early 70's and have no natural predator so their numbers have increased dramatically.

With regards about Canada-its a possibility that Canadian cattle are fed mostly grain inside sheds instead of grazing on grass or maybe they simply have never had a problem with TB because badgers are routinley shot.

Or possibly because their cattle are not so inbred as our's and are therefore healthier?

Anyone can google for as many articles as they want for the pros and cons, the fact is, controlling the deer population leads to a healthier population overall. Controlling populations, helps maintain a healthy population of any species, where there are no natural predators. There's a lot of scaremongering goes on the minute culling is mentioned, where any wildlife is concerned, seems to be the typical knee jerk reaction.

Anyone can google for as many articles as they want for the pros and cons, the fact is, controlling the deer population leads to a healthier population overall. Controlling populations, helps maintain a healthy population of any species, where there are no natural predators. There's a lot of scaremongering goes on the minute culling is mentioned, where any wildlife is concerned, seems to be the typical knee jerk reaction.

Anyone can google for as many articles as they want for the pros and cons, the fact is, controlling the deer population leads to a healthier population overall. Controlling populations, helps maintain a healthy population of any species, where there are no natural predators. There's a lot of scaremongering goes on the minute culling is mentioned, where any wildlife is concerned, seems to be the typical knee jerk reaction.