Some 8,159 badgers were culled under the TB eradication programme last year, Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon has said.
Responding to a parliamentary question from Deputy Jennifer Whitmore, Minister Heydon said the TB eradication programme implements “two main control strategies, removal and vaccination, in areas around the country where there have been epidemiological links to badgers and bovine TB breakdowns”.
The data shows that just over 34,000 badgers have been culled since 2021.
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Action plan
An action plan launched by the Department of Agriculture in September 2025 includes five measures and 30 actions underpinned by scientific research and veterinary expertise.
The measures target both transmission between wildlife and cattle and transmission between cattle, the Minister said.
The five measures are as follows:
Support herds free of TB to remain free.Reduce the impact of wildlife on the spread of TB.Detect and eliminate TB infection as early as possible in herds with a TB breakdown and avoid a future breakdown.Help farmers improve all areas of on-farm biosecurity.Reduce the impact of known high-risk animals in spreading TB.Vaccination
A “test, vaccinate, remove” approach aims to reduce the impact of wildlife on the spread of TB and ensures “only healthy badgers will be vaccinated, thus further improving the effectiveness of my Department's wildlife programme”, Minister Heydon said.
Large-scale vaccination began in late 2019, with 19,562 badgers vaccinated to date.
In 2021, 3,958 badgers were vaccinated, 3,888 were vaccinated in 2022, 4,844 were done in 2023, 3,832 were vaccinated in 2024 and 3,040 were done in 2025, according to the Minister.
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