Badger culling to reduce bovine tuberculosis transmission is one of the most controversial wildlife management policies in Britain. Its welfare impacts on badger social groups are substantial and complicate the disease control objective.
Cage-trapped badgers experience acute distress from confinement in a novel environment over the period between capture and killing. Failed free-shots cause wounded animals to escape and die slowly. Disruption of social groups causes surviving badgers to range more widely, potentially carrying TB to new territories (perturbation). The welfare case for badger culling is therefore negative both for culled animals and for displaced survivors. Vaccination offers an alternative disease management approach without the welfare costs of lethal control.