"You Seem to be very concerned with wildlife health welfare"

 

I have been told, again, that I seem to be very concerned with wildlife health welfare.

😐

Of course I am. I am not a member of the Green Party so I do care about the environmental and wildlife crisis that is currently taking place. Next year will be my official 50th (I don't count when I was learning as a child) year as a naturalist, researcher/archivist. I have read many thousands of news and items and journals going back to the 17th century, hundreds of books going back to the 16th century and that learning continues.

We saw what one might call The First Modern Mass Extinction during the early Medieval period up to the 1500s. Bears, lynx, wolves, boar and many other species (land and air) wiped out by humans. By the start of the 17th Century much wildlife was imported from Europe to replace "beasts of the chace" for hunting 'fun'  -the bigger mammals were no longer around to kill and so the Old wild cat and Old fox species were put on the list.

By the mid 1830s it was apparent, and written about frequently, that the Old fox was heading for extinction and there was much discussion. But discussion not about saving the species but about what would happen "to our sport". Yep, if foxes went extinct then there was nothing else to hunt and kill. Hares died out in many areas due top hare hunting as did otters and many others including deer.

From the early (possible) 16th century on the importing of animals to hunt increased but that meant constant "re-stocking" and Leadenhall Market imported at least 2000 foxes a year to hunt and the actual number with the number of importers in England must have exceeded 3-5000 per year. 

However, the 1860s can be seen as the Second Modern Mass Extinction with Old Fox and Wild cats, red squirrels and others falling into the gaping hole. More Red squirrels imported and yet shooting clubs were still noting with pride the hundreds of squirrels their members were killing. I doubt that a genuine British Red squirrel exists today. When importing stopped due to World War 1 and then anti rabies legislation wildlife took a downturn and never -despite the many false claims- recovered.

Foxes are still shot for 'fun' nightly which means those 'sportsmen' (it is what they call themselves) are actually helping drive foxes to extinction as we are calculated to have already lost 65-70% of the fox population.

We lose badgers every year to cars and 99% of drivers do not even report hitting an animal whether fox, badger or even a deer (hopefully the damage caused hitting the latter ran into the hundreds in repair work on the precious car).

There are people who will kill or try to kill pet dogs and cats as well as abuse horses and cattle. "A Nation of animal lovers".

We have seen the increased decline in hedgehog numbers and there is little doubt that the 2030s will see the Third Modern Mass Extinction with many mammals and birds, etc joining the fox, badger and hedgehog.

Treating wildlife for injuries in the wild for minor injuries and ailments is beneficial in that there is no stress on them from being trapped, caged and then held for a period of time where the treatment can take longer to work.  But wildlife vets and rescues need to step out of the dark ages and into modern times.

A fox does not depend solely on eyesight to survive as hearing and smell are the main senses. Blind in one eye "It can't survive in the wild -kill it. A badger that a wildlife hospital felt was blind had survived a long time until an unblocked drop point in the ground meant it got trapped. Again, badgers do not solely rely on eyesight but the vet declared it could not live in the wild and no wildlife rescue was asked whether they could take it on so -kill it.

I often wonder whether these people "cast the bones" before making their decisions. They certainly do not listen to people who deal with foxes and badgers daily.

A leg injury in a fox "It cannot survive in the wild -kill it".  I even wrote a piece about how well three legged foxes survive and at least two such vixens have had a couple of litters with no problem. https://foxwildcatwolverineproject.blogspot.com/2024/08/fox-leg-amputation-reason-to-kill.html

A facial injury: "Can't be treated -kill it" BUT why kill the fox?  With severe infection and necrosis I can understand and the smell and black skin will tell you when it is too far gone. One vixen with cubs had a facial injury and talk was of trapping which would mean killing it or "euthanising" it. It was decided to start treatment and give it a set period to note any success and that way it could still feed its young cubs. The facial injury healed and the vixen is still alive.

Mange is NOT a death sentence that destroys organs and leads to a nasty death. It just needs treating as soon as possible and in the last three years over 600 local foxes have been successfully treated (previously the local wildlife rescue had any fox with what someone decided was "35% mange" put down. The new regime there is treatment (under veterinary advice) and that has saved 600 foxes rather than wipe them out.

This item may be of interest: 

https://foxwildcatwolverineproject.blogspot.com/2024/08/treating-infections-facial-injuries-and.html

The answer to the statement  "you seem to be very concerned with wildlife health welfare" is "Yes, I bloody well am and so should you be now get off your ass and help!"

Berne Convention on British Badger Culling: Probably to be Ignored and Too Late

 Possibly too late with over 300,000 culled and thousands dying on the roads and continued illegal killings by "local badger men" for hire the British badger is heading for extinction.

Berne took is effing time. DEFRA will ignore anyway. https://protectthewild.substack.com/p/bureau-of-bern-convention-tells-uk?r=nhg8l&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email&fbclid=IwY2xjawMVOw9leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHpq-r68ORcShXvuLmuRayS0njSXGqI4dtff9yGl4XItZQzvUibM37imVmMhj_aem_LzPdD6DURQRS5jpCmJGDAw&triedRedirect=true

An international wildlife treaty body has called on the UK government to swiftly bring its years-long slaughter of the iconic and protected badger to an end.

Following a meeting in June, the Bureau of the Bern Convention issued a decision, which instructed the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to "move with greater urgency and progress on the ending of the badger culling policy." The Bureau made clear that Defra's excuses for keeping culling going – possibly up to 2029 – do not wash.

Bern Convention

The Bern Convention came into force in 1982, with an aim to conserve wildlife and natural habitats in the European region. At its core, the convention protects biodiversity through listing wild species of plants and animals in different Appendices and prohibiting exploitation of the groups to varying degrees.

The treaty lists the European badger as an Appendix III species. This means that although some level of exploitation can be permitted, countries must ensure that they do not endanger or ‘seriously disturb’ populations of the species, including on a local level.

Since 2013, successive UK governments have permitted the slaughter of close to a quarter of a million badgers under the cull policy. Such intensive and prolonged killing has implications for the survival of some badger populations, particularly in localised areas. As Protect the Wild reported in June, Northamptonshire Badger Group says the wild animals have “vanished” locally in a cull zone there, including from an ancient woodland surrounded by cull land that badgers have inhabited for generations.

Likewise, several cull areas failed to kill their target number of badgers in 2024, as the Badger Trust has reported. Explaining what this means, the trust warned that the policy "has left badger populations in some areas so low that the shooters cannot find them to kill them."

Defra's licensing authority for the cull, Natural England, has monitoring measures in place that are meant to assist the UK in meeting its Bern Convention commitments not to cause the extinctions of badger populations, locally or otherwise. But these measures are heavily reliant on data collected and submitted by cull companies, which does not inspire confidence in their robustness.

Bern calls out the cull

In 2019, as the cull was in its seventh year and had already claimed the lives of more than 67,000 badgers, three organisations – Born Free, the Badger Trust, and Eurogroup for Animals – submitted a complaint to the Bureau of the Bern Convention. They argued that the policy “not only negatively impacts the European badger species, but it fails to effectively tackle the disease of bTB for cattle farmers who are supposed to benefit from it.”

As the cull expanded in the following years, the groups repeatedly filed more reports to back up their case. In their latest submission from January this year, they stressed that prior to the policy's rollout, Natural England anticipated the cull death toll to be 70,000-100,000 badgers, out of an estimated total population of 190,000 badgers in England.

Ultimately, successive governments have permitted the killing of 2.5-3.5 times more badgers than that. And further massacres are planned, with the existing Labour government 'honouring' the cull schedule of its Conservative predecessor, which ends in early 2026. The government has also left the door open for continued culling until 2029, meaning the entirety of its current term in office.

In July, the Bureau of the Bern Convention finally made a move that gave the complainant groups some reason for optimism. After discussing the case at a meeting in June, the Bureau issued a decision on the situation, based on information provided by the complainants and the UK government.

The Bureau essentially told the government that its reasons for continuing the cull are inappropriate and do not stand up to scrutiny.

The government had justified maintaining culling by referencing its limited capacity – including financially – to scale up badger vaccination, according to the decision. The Bureau said it was "concerned that financial reasons are used to justify a derogation from the Convention," signalling that economic constraints are not an acceptable reason for deviating from the treaty's rules.

The government had also argued that in the absence of a vaccination rollout, continued culling is necessary to maintain control of bovine tuberculosis in cows, the decision highlighted. The Bureau challenged this, pointing out that scientists, including Natural England's own director of science, have effectively determined that culling is meaningless and unnecessary.

In concluding, the Bureau said it was "greatly concerned" by the situation and will consider "elevating" the case if things do not improve by a Bern Convention meeting in the summer of 2026. It called on the government to "move with greater urgency and progress on the ending of the badger culling policy as there are clear satisfactory alternatives available."

Responding to the Bureau's decision, Born Free's head of policy, Mark Jones, said:

"The Bern Convention has finally accepted that the UK government’s attempts to justify killing badgers under the Convention’s rules simply don’t wash. One more dead badger is one too many. We implore the government to bring the culling of badgers to an immediate and permanent end, and to initiate meaningful and inclusive dialogue with all stakeholders on alternative strategies for controlling bovine TB among cattle."

Born Free has since written to the Defra secretary, Steve Reed, calling on him to immediately and permanently end the cull. As yet, Reed has failed to respond.

The Bern Convention is a legally binding treaty. But it is effectively toothless when it comes to enforcement, so this decision does not necessarily mean the government will urgently move to end the cull.

When the Bureau talks of 'elevation', it means changing the status of a case in ways that could increase pressure on the government to scrap the policy. Currently, the case is on 'stand-by'. If it were raised to an 'open' file, that would see the case being openly discussed in meetings, which could lead to further condemnation and pressure.

Despite the convention's limitations, Protect the Wild is pleased to see the Bureau finally calling out the government's sorry excuses for state-sanctioned badger killing.

The UK Green Party Damned By Their Own Words and Actions

 

74 dead badgers and so far 268 dead cubs, vixens and dog foxes.

Bristol (Green) City Council are now refusing to respond to emails and phone.... "not currently available but I can take a message" (3 times so fare)

Everyone in the Green Council from Leader, Deputy Leader and officers who job these things come under are violating the Green Party oath that humans do not take precedence over wildlife and the environment and read this for a laugh since even the Green Party national HQ washes their hands of wildlife and the environment:

"Nature is in crisis. The UK is one of the most nature depleted countries in the world with only half its wildlife left and another 10,000 plants, animals and birds threatened with extinction.

"Yet the Government is way off track meeting its own nature targets and as another UN biodiversity summit gets underway, hasn’t even published a strategy to restore nature, something it promised at the last nature summit two years ago.

"We can get biodiversity thriving again. Our four Green MPs will push Labour to act now to protect and restore our precious environment, boost nature friendly farming and keep fossil fuels in the ground.

"But they need your help to send a clear message: Nature Action Now."

Basically, The Greens (in the UK) are about as trustworthy and dedicated to wildlife and the environment as Labour is....not at all.