Catalogue description Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food: Inquiry into Gassing of Badgers to Prevent Tuberculosis

In 1975 a consultative panel on badgers and tuberculosis was established to bring together the views of experts and interested organisations and to keep the problem of bovine tuberculosis in badgers under review. In 1979 the Minister of Agriculture Fisheries and Food referred to his concern about criticisms of his department's policy 'for dealing with badgers infected with bovine tuberculosis' and criticism which focused 'on the extent to which infected badgers are likely to pass on the disease to cattle and on the methods used to eradicate the disease'. He went on to say that he had therefore asked Lord Zuckerman, President of the Zoological Society of London, to take an objective look at the problem and to give his advice about the way it should be tackled in the future. This report was published in August 1980.