Groups call badger boycott of Irish food, holidays
Badgerwatch Ireland and the UK's Badger Trust said the animals are being virtually exterminated in the Republic of Ireland, with up to 6,000 snares set by Government employees every night.
They said this bovine TB control method has failed, with TB levels two times higher than in Great Britain, where badgers are not being culled.
Later, the spokespersons admitted snares in Ireland don’t catch even 6,000 badgers a year, because they are so scarce.
Agriculture and Food Minister Mary Coughlan rejected the badger protection groups’ conclusions.
She said peer reviewed research has demonstrated that culling of infected badger significantly reduces TB in cattle.
She said badgers are only captured where they are implicated in serious outbreaks of bovine TB.
Total removal of badger populations is not allowed, and there is no question or possibility of badgers being exterminated.
She said restraints used to capture badgers are approved under the Wildlife Act, fitted with a stop to prevent tightening or strangulation. A condition of badger capture licencing is that restraints are checked before noon the day after they are set.
She said research has shown that at least 40% of badgers in the vicinity of TB infected herds are infected, and that infection by badgers was the single most important source of infection of cattle.
Contrary to a Badgerwatch and Badger Trust statement, badgers and cattle share the same strains of TB locally, said the Minister, and bovine TB incidence is 7% in the UK and only 5.4% in Ireland.
