VerbatimParliament, as it happens

Badgers: Animal Welfare and Disease Control

Asked by Vikki SladeLiberal DemocratDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled Answered 6 July 2026UIN 15097

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information her Department holds on how many badgers were killed from (a) badger baiting and (b) badger culling in the South West as a proportion of the total number of badgers killed from those practices in England in each of the last five years.

Answered by Stephen Morgan

Defra does not hold official figures at national or regional level on the deaths of badgers resulting from badger baiting.

The number of badgers culled annually under licence for bovine TB disease control purposes is available at the following link. Numbers are reported by licence area, with each licence area assigned to the county in which it is predominantly located.

Data on the numbers culled under licence in 2025 will be published in due course.

Verbatim has judged this answer against the question that was actually asked — answered, partly answered, or evaded. Sign in to see the verdict →

Open this question in Verbatim →

Every written question, searchable

155,000 questions tabled since the election, with the answer each department gave — and the ones still unanswered, with the clock running. Free to search.

Search written questions →Read on Verbatim