It would seem to me that vaccinating badgers would be a major undertaking. I would imagine that you would have to lure them out to capture and vaccinate whereas, vaccinating cattle surely can't be harder than rounding them up as they normally would and dispensing the vaccination. Of course vaccinations cost money so there are financial benefits for someone. The downside would be ...

[quote]....the country's farmers like nothing better than letting off a bit of steam with their shotguns! [/quote]

So, vaccination might deny that small pleasure. :P

Shooting badgers probably happened because the NFU spent yonks jumping up & down at DEFRA because the country's farmers like nothing better than letting off a bit of steam with their shotguns!

Mmmm.... I wonder where Defra do their banking?

[quote]Why are ' we ' so slow at getting things right? [/quote]

I'll bet someone somewhere is making a lot of money. I often find that if things are happening contrary to common sense, seeking out where the money is (or is going) is a worthwhile exercise.

Vaccinating cattle was always (to me) the way to go. Vaccinating Badgers may help towards eradicating TB in them if in deed they are the sole cause of cattle getting TB which is not proven. Shooting Badgers is cheap but not cheerful. Why are ' we ' so slow at getting things right?

After not to listening to advice, and realising that shooting badgers ain't gonna work, vaccination is being given a chance. Maybe the cattle should be vaccinated - as they don't have TB - and not the badgers, as many of them already have the disease?

[url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-29030920[/url]