End Harmful Practices Against Wildlife

The Call to End Badger Culling

Despite campaigns and legislation, badger culling persists, a cruel relic of outdated agricultural management. This article explores the history, impact, and failures surrounding this practice, and proposes humane, science-based alternatives to restore balance to our ecosystems.

End Harmful Practices Against Wildlife

A Troubled History and Inhumane Methods

Badger culling began in the 1950s as a misguided attempt to control bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in cattle. It grew into a state-sanctioned policy despite minimal scientific support and growing public opposition.

Common Methods of Culling

• Gassing: Cyanide gas pumped into setts, condemned globally for cruelty.
• Shooting: Both free-shooting and trap-and-shoot, with high rates of suffering.
• Trapping: Cage trapping causes extreme stress before execution.
• Baiting: Dogs are set upon badgers for blood sport, breaching cruelty laws.
• Poisoning: Illegal toxins harm non-target species like raptors and hedgehogs.

Disturbing Statistics

• Between 2013 and 2023, over 210,000 badgers were culled in England.DEFRA Data
• Only 5.7% of culled badgers tested positive for bTB, proving the policy’s failure.

End Harmful Practices Against Wildlife

Beyond Badgers: Other Victims

Badgers are not alone, other animals fall victim to these outdated policies:

• Foxes: Killed under “pest control”, often illegally through hunts or snares.
• Hares: Still coursed and shot despite population decline.
• Birds of Prey: Poisoned to protect game bird estates.

Systemic Failures

• Weak Enforcement: Few prosecutions, minimal oversight.
• Legal Loopholes: “Trail hunting” and other tactics continue under false pretence.
• No Accountability: Repeat offenders rarely face meaningful penalties.

Sanctuary, Science and Support

How the HEADTURNED Foundation Will Help Badgers and the Land

Ending culling is not just about saying "no" to killing; it is about building systems that make compassion and science the easiest choice for farmers, vets and communities. The HEADTURNED Foundation is designing the Sanctuary and Innovation Hub to work directly with badgers, bTB-affected landscapes and the people who care for them.

• Veterinary and wildlife hospital partnerships: co-funding diagnostics, treatment and rehabilitation for injured badgers and other wildlife caught up in culls, illegal persecution or road traffic incidents.
• Vaccination and humane disease control: supporting badger vaccination programmes and research into effective, non-lethal bTB solutions, including better testing, biosecurity and cattle-focused measures.
• Habitat and corridor work: using Sanctuary land as part of a wider network of safe setts, woodland and hedgerow corridors, so badgers can live and move without being pushed into conflict zones.
• Innovation Hub data and policy support: combining field data, mapping and technology to evidence what works, and to help shift legislation away from culling towards prevention, vaccination and habitat-led recovery.

The aim is simple: fewer badgers shot, more badgers vaccinated and protected; fewer farms trapped in a cycle of fear, more supported with practical, humane tools that work for both animals and people.

End Harmful Practices Against Wildlife

Building a Compassionate Future

Ethical land management can protect both agriculture and wildlife. The solutions exist, they just need political will, funding, and public support.

• End culling: phase out inhumane killing of badgers and shift resources towards vaccination, better testing and cattle-focused interventions.
• Rewilding & habitat corridors: restore woodlands, hedgerows and riparian corridors that support badgers, pollinators and wider biodiversity.
• Scientific approach: invest in research that measures real-world outcomes, not just assumptions, and acts on what the evidence actually shows.
• Education and support: work with farmers, vets and rural communities to share humane, practical methods that reduce conflict and disease risk without cruelty.

End Harmful Practices Against Wildlife

A Line in the Sand for Badgers

Badger culling has been defended as necessary, scientific and inevitable. It is none of those things. It is a choice, and like any choice, it can be unmade.

• Enforce a nationwide phase-out of badger culling.
• Invest in vaccination, testing and humane disease management.
• Support sanctuaries, vets, and organisations working on the front line of rescue, rehabilitation and habitat restoration.

The HEADTURNED Foundation is ready to play its part: caring for injured animals, restoring land, and proving that compassion and evidence can replace fear and destruction. What we do next will decide whether the badger's story is one of quiet extinction, or of recovery and respect.