What the four nations actually allow
Animal welfare is devolved, and since 2023 the four nations have genuinely
diverged. This is the same practice compared across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern
Ireland, with the primary source and a last-checked date against every cell.
Last reviewed 25 August 2026; the oldest cell on this page was last checked against its primary source on
22 August 2026. Every cell carries its own date and source below.
Data: /api/law.json.
This is a description of the
law, not legal advice. Every row links to the primary source and carries the date it
was last checked. Check the source before relying on it — general licences are reissued
each January and commencement dates move.
Disease control
Badgers are protected across the United Kingdom and may only be killed under licence. What each nation licences for bovine tuberculosis is now moving in four different directions: England is ending its cull, Wales has committed not to hold one, Scotland has no programme, and Northern Ireland is introducing one.
England
Licence or conditions apply
- In force from
- not recorded
- Instrument
- Protection of Badgers Act 1992, sections 1 and 10
Taking, injuring or killing a badger is an offence under section 1 of the Protection of Badgers Act 1992, and interfering with a sett is an offence under section 3. Natural England has licensed badger culling to reduce bovine tuberculosis under section 10. On 30 August 2024 the government announced it would end the badger cull by the end of the parliament. Defra states that 2025 was the final year of industry-led culling in the High Risk and Edge Areas and that all supplementary badger control licences have now ended.
Proposed change — not yet law
The replacement strategy announced on 30 August 2024 is a Badger Vaccinator Field Force to expand badger vaccination, a national wildlife surveillance programme, the first major badger population survey since 2011-13, and field trials of a cattle vaccine. Natural England says it continues to determine existing licences until the new measures are in place.
Source
GOV.UK
· checked 25 August 2026
Wales
Licence or conditions apply
- In force from
- not recorded
- Instrument
- Protection of Badgers Act 1992, sections 1 and 10
The same 1992 Act offences apply. The Welsh Government has committed not to cull badgers and its bovine TB programme uses cattle measures and badger vaccination, supported by a Badger Vaccination Grant scheme. It is not a complete prohibition on killing: on farms with chronic TB breakdowns where badgers are considered to be contributing to disease persistence, licences are issued to trap and test badgers and those testing positive are humanely killed. The Welsh Government has said it is phasing out that trap-and-test work to concentrate resources on vaccination.
GOV.WALES
· checked 25 August 2026
Scotland
Licence or conditions apply
- In force from
- not recorded
- Instrument
- Protection of Badgers Act 1992, sections 1 and 10A
The same 1992 Act offences apply, with licensing functions delegated in Scotland under section 10A. No bovine tuberculosis badger control programme has been identified in Scotland. Licences relate to development, sett interference and similar purposes rather than to disease control.
legislation.gov.uk
· checked 25 August 2026
Northern Ireland
Licence or conditions apply
- In force from
- not recorded
- Instrument
- Wildlife (Northern Ireland) Order 1985, licensed by DAERA
The Protection of Badgers Act 1992 does not extend to Northern Ireland; badgers are protected under the Wildlife (Northern Ireland) Order 1985. A bovine TB eradication strategy announced in the Assembly on 24 March 2022 includes non-selective badger culling in areas of higher than average badger social group density and prolonged high levels of herd breakdown. It follows a five-year Test and Vaccinate or Remove research project begun in 2014, in which trapped badgers were tested, negative animals vaccinated and positive animals removed.
Proposed change — not yet law
DAERA has consulted on the options for wildlife intervention: non-selective culling, selective culling through Test and Vaccinate or Remove, and vaccination only. Northern Ireland is the only nation moving towards introducing a badger cull rather than away from one.
Source
DAERA
· checked 25 August 2026
How to read this
Status describes the position today. Anything proposed, consulted on or before a
legislature is shown separately as a proposed change, and is never counted as law.
“Not recorded” means not recorded. Where a commencement date or an
instrument has not been confirmed against a primary source, the cell says so rather than
estimating.
Data: /api/law.json. Corrections with a primary
source are welcome — a wrong cell here is worse than a missing one.