Badger culling in the UK to control bovine tuberculosis in cattle is one of the most controversial wildlife management policies in British history, with significant welfare implications for the millions of badgers killed and for cattle herds affected by the disease.
Badger culling creates direct welfare costs to individual animals through two main pathways. Trapped badgers experience the acute stress of confinement, often for many hours, before being shot. Free-shooting at night results in a significant proportion of badgers being wounded rather than killed outright, leading to prolonged suffering before death or survival with injuries. Beyond the individual animal level, culling disrupts badger social groups (setts), causing the 'perturbation effect' where disrupted badgers range further and potentially spread TB more widely. The welfare harm to badgers is further compounded by evidence that the policy may not achieve its stated disease control objectives - making the welfare cost arguably without proportionate benefit.