Wildlife enthusiasts and dairy farmers will be relieved to know that the
Government has announced that the ineffective cull of Badgers and
cattle as a means of reducing bovine TB is to be phased out in favour of
a policy of vaccination, and an earlier and more effective test for
infection in cattle to replace the present skin test which doesn't
detect early infection and thus results in a reservoir of infection
within the herd. It is sad that scientific advice which has been
available for several years has taken so long to be accepted.
Dorset
Wildlife Trust has announced that it has now secured the necessary
licenses to proceed with its enclosed Beaver trial, the first of its
kind.The project will host research that will help us to understand the
positive impact this species could have on chalk stream water quality,
flood prevention and wildlife. Though highly desirable on the presently
much abused South Winterborne we are unlikely to be lucky enough to get
Beavers in the near future.
And a welcome sign of spring, a Brimstone butterfly, the first for the year, has just fluttered across my front garden.
