HC Deb 20 January 1994 vol 235 cc755-6W
Mr. Redmond

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list by county the number of badgers shot and gassed in each year since 1988; and what percentage of those badgers were subsequently shown to have tuberculosis.

Sir Hector Monro

The badger population in Scotland is widely dispersed in the countryside and does not pose an animal health risk. Consequently, badgers have never been subject to official controls on animal health grounds and it has never been necessary to shoot badgers in Scotland. Gassing as a control mechanism was discontinued in Great Britain in 1982.