Wildlife

Wild Badger Vaccination Welfare

Badger vaccination against bovine tuberculosis offers a humane alternative to culling that improves welfare for individual badgers and addresses disease.

Key Facts

Badgers are a wildlife reservoir of bovine tuberculosis in the UK
Cage-trapping and vaccination with BCG vaccine provides individual protection
Vaccinated badgers have significantly lower disease burden and transmission rates
The injectable vaccine requires annual administration to maintain population-level immunity
Oral bait vaccines in development could allow vaccination without cage-trapping handling stress

Welfare Considerations

Cage-trapped badgers experience significant capture and handling stress during vaccination. Culling causes traumatic death and population disruption affecting surviving badgers. Vaccination is the most welfare-compatible approach to TB management.

What You Can Do

Support Badger Vaccination Programs funded by the Badger Trust and Defra
Advocate for expanded badger vaccination to replace culling as the primary TB management strategy
Donate to research into oral bait vaccines that could eliminate handling stress from badger vaccination