Badgers (Hansard, 18 January 1993)

§ Mr. Morley
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will ensure that no licence is given to allow hunts to enter dogs into badger setts during the breeding period of December to June.

§ Mr. Soames
The badgers' breeding season is one of the factors which will be taken into account when considering an application to interfere with a badger sett. However, each application will be considered on its merits.

§ Mr. Morley
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his proposed budget for badger culling and live tests in 1993–94.

§ Mr. Soames
The adoption of the live test as part of this Department's badger control strategy is currently under consideration. However, provisional estimates indicate that the direct running costs of a pre-emptive strategy based on such a test could be approximately £900,000 in 1993–94.

§ Mr. Morley
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he is taking to ensure lactating badgers are not kept from their cubs when caught in live traps for the proposed bovine TB brocktest.

§ Mr. Soames
Written instructions are provided to field staff on the operation of the current badger control strategy. Staff must visit traps as early as possible in the day following the night of capture and sows showing signs of being recently suckled must be marked and released.
No decision has yet been made about the introducing of a new strategy based on a live test.