Badgers need your help

We are asking for your support to help to raise money to vaccinate badgers against bovine TB.

Scientific evidence has proved the culling of badgers is ineffective in fighting bovine tuberculosis among cattle and yet badgers continue to be slaughtered. 

In Staffordshire our vaccination programme is continuing this autumn. 

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. Thankfully in 2018 we were able to start vaccinating again and have continued to do so every autumn since.  

In 2018 we launched an appeal to raise £25,000 to run the vaccination programme for five years and raised £18,000. Thank you so much to everyone who donated! Your contribution has helped solidify the programme and paid for staff training, the vaccine, and other equipment.

This work is on-going, as to continue the programme we need to pay for essential veterinary supplies and more vaccines. Any contribution you can make will be a great help towards protecting theses special mammals. 

Why vaccination is more effective than culling

Staffordshire Wildlife Trust is very conscious of the hardship that 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. Scientific research carried out by the Government has shown that badger culling, unless carried out in line with strict criteria including the requirement to be across very large areas, could be counterproductive.

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

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.

We believe that vaccination should be at the centre of efforts to tackle this disease rather than a cull.

Read the lastest updates on the badger cull here

How do we vaccinate badgers?

During the vaccination process, wild badgers will be captured overnight in ‘live' traps, before being treated with the vaccine the following morning and then released. Vaccinated badgers will be humanely marked, with the traps reset and the process repeated for unmarked badgers. The same areas will be revisited annually for five years, to ensure the majority of the local population is vaccinated.

To find out more about how we vaccinate badgers, see our special feature in Staffordshire Wildlife Trust's members magazine.

Please give as much as you can afford

£10 - buys enough peanuts to bait one trap for two weeks

£20 - buys a dose of the vaccine and a syringe

£50 - buys personal protective equipment to keep a vaccinator working effectively and safely

£100 - buys one badger cage trap

£350 buys an annual FERA certificate of competence for one vaccinator - a legal requirement for the work

£750 - buys professional training for a staff member to safely handle and capture badgers and deliver the programme

Making a donation today - it's easy!

• Online - use the donate now button above
• By phone - call 01889 880100
• By post - send a cheque payable to Staffordshire Wildlife Trust to FREEPOST NAT 4847, Stafford, ST17 0BR.