The deadline to submit responses to a DAERA public consultation on potential options for wildlife control to help reduce bovine TB in NI, has been extended by two weeks. As a result, submissions must now be made by 5pm on 9 October 2026.

The consultation invites views on three main options, including non-selective culling of badgers in TB hotspot areas mainly by controlled shooting.

The second option relies on a Test, Vaccinate or Remove (TVR) approach as trialled in the Banbridge area between 2014 and 2018. In the third option there is no culling done, with all trapped badgers vaccinated against TB.

The main reason for the consultation being extended seems to relate to the failure by the department to include within various documents, a scientific report referenced within the consultation.

That report by Budgey & Smith, published in 2019, sets out the detail behind a model produced by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) in England which was used to give an indication of how various wildlife intervention options might actually perform in practice.

The output from this APHA model also forms the basis for analysis outlined in an annex to the DAERA consultation which looks at which option might be the most cost-effective.

It highlights that non-selective culling, mainly by controlled shooting, is the most likely to deliver benefits (in terms of fewer herd breakdowns) that outweigh costs.