§ Mr. Watkinsonasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what new evidence he has that badgers transmit bovine tuberculosis.
§ Mr. StrangI refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to him on 30th November 1977. Since then, badgers infected with bovine tuberculosis have continued to be found in locations where outbreaks of the disease have occurred in cattle.—[Vol. 943, c.206–7.]
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§ Mr. Watkinsonasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many badger sets have now been gassed to date in the South-West of England and Gloucestershire, respectively.
§ Mr. StrangUp to 31st January 1978, 3,184 sets had been gassed in the South-West of England, including 1,040 in Gloucestershire.
§ Mr. Watkinsonasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether in any areas in the South-West there has been an outbreak of bovine tuberculosis which has been controlled without reducing the badger population.
§ Mr. StrangYes. 30 of the outbreaks which occurred in 1977 in the South-West were either definitely attributable to a cause other than tuberculous badgers, or were of obscure origin. All were controlled without action against badgers. Others of this sort have occurred in previous years.
§ Mr. Watkinsonasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether any areas of the country with a high density of badger population have not been linked with bovine tuberculosis.
§ Mr. StrangYes. Although information about the density of the badger population is limited, there are many areas outside the South-West where the population is relatively high and there is no evidence of infection with bovine tuberculosis. Badgers infected with bovine tuberculosis have been found only in the South-West, with the exception of five in the South-East and one in South Wales.
§ Mr. Watkinsonasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his estimate of the badger population in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. StrangIn 1976 the mammal society estimated on a very approximate basis that the winter badger population of Great Britain could be between 75,000 and 90,000.
§ Mr. Watkinsonasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what evidence he has of illegal badger slaughtering.
§ Mr. StrangMy Department has no direct evidence of illegal killing of 259W badgers. My officials have, however, occasionally noted signs of interference with badger sets, such as the blocking of holes, which could be connected with the killing of badgers.