The charity and the wider Wildlife Trust movement is continuing to urge the government to halt their flawed policy which leads to tens of thousands of badgers being killed every year.

The vaccination programme is underway at two of the Trusts nature reserves in Staffordshire.

Independent research shows that culling could cause the disease to spread more widely, as territorial boundaries will be disturbed leading to the increased movement of badgers.

Jeff Sim, Senior Conservation Manager for the Trust, said: “We started our badger vaccination on a number of nature reserves in 2013. However, due to a global shortage of vaccine we were unable to vaccinate for two years. We were pleased to say that in 2018 we were vaccinating again in the autumn and continued to do so in 2020 and now 2021.  

“The Trust is very conscious of the hardship that bovine tuberculosis (bTB) causes in the farming community and the need to find the right mechanisms to control the disease. However, we believe that a badger cull is not the answer.

“The Trust believes that vaccination of badgers against bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is currently the most effective way of reducing the risk of badger to cattle transmission of the disease.”

It costs £25,000 to run the vaccination programme for the next five years. The Trust needs help to fund this important work - to pay for essential veterinary supplies, equipment and staff training.

Anyone who can contribute to the Trust’s badger appeal should visit www.justgiving.com/badgerappeal