Badgers are a protected species at the center of a decades-long controversy over their role in bovine tuberculosis transmission and the ethics of culling.
Culled badgers are shot by licensed contractors, with imprecise marksmanship leading to wounded animals that suffer before death. Cage trapping and shooting methods have both been criticized by welfare organizations for failing to guarantee humane death. Beyond individual welfare, culling disrupts social groups, causing survivors to range more widely and potentially spreading TB further. Vaccination programs avoid these welfare harms while building population immunity.