Badgers are central to one of Britain's most contested wildlife welfare debates, as culling policies designed to control bovine tuberculosis create significant welfare harm to a protected mammal.
Badger culling welfare is among the most actively debated wildlife welfare policy issues in Britain. The welfare harms of culling - including the acute harm of shooting, the chronic harm of wounding, and the social disruption to surviving badger social groups (perturbation) that may increase disease spread - must be weighed against the welfare implications of bovine TB in cattle. Vaccination of badgers provides a welfare-positive alternative that avoids lethal harm while building herd immunity in badger populations. The gradual expansion of vaccination programs, combined with improved cattle-level TB control measures, represents a welfare-positive direction for this complex policy area.