Badger vaccination programmes using BCG delivered by oral baiting or injectable routes are being trialled and deployed as an alternative to culling. Their welfare advantages are substantial.
Vaccination of badgers avoids the welfare cost of lethal control — no animals die from the management intervention. Cage-trapping for injectable vaccination still causes capture stress, but this is temporary and manageable with appropriate trapping protocols. Oral bait vaccination, if approved, would eliminate even this welfare cost. The combination of vaccination programme welfare advantages and the contested effectiveness of culling has strengthened advocacy for vaccination as the primary management tool.