§ Mr. HardyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if field tests monitoring further destruction of badgers are currently being carried out by or on behalf of his Department.
§ Mr. SoamesThe greatest cause of destruction of live badgers, apart from disease, is road accidents, which some estimates indicate are responsible for as many as 47,500 badger deaths per year. The field tests undertaken by Ministry staff are concerned with the development of better methods of dealing with the problem of tuberculosis.