Reports on badgers Meles meles in Dutch newspapers 1900–2013: same animals, different framings?

Abstract

Culling wild badgers Meles meles in an attempt to control the spread of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) infections in domestic cattle has provoked a long and fierce debate in the UK. Research has shown that the controversy over badger culling exists because of fundamental differences in how badgers and their relationship with humans are framed (viewed and described) by various people and groups. However, these different framings pre-existed the bTB badger culling debate. In the Netherlands, bTB is absent in cattle. Until the 1980s, the badger population showed a strong decline, due to persecution and increasing road traffic intensity. Since the 1990s, the badger population has increased substantially, which has led to more confrontations with humans (more collisions with vehicles, more damage to crops, etc.). Yet badgers seem far less controversial than in the UK. Moreover, cases of persecution are now seldom reported. This suggests that badger framings in the Netherlands are less extreme than those in the UK, and have become less focused on negative aspects of badgers. Badger framings can facilitate or hinder badger protection. We identify badger framings in the Netherlands, provide explanations for these framings and how they change over time, and explore the consequences of framings in terms of how humans act towards badgers. We then compare the Dutch badger framings to the UK badger framings. The paper is based on an analysis of over 1400 reports in almost 1200 articles that were published during the last century in Dutch newspapers. Dutch badger framings are more nuanced than those in the UK. The specific situation of badger-human interaction appears to have an important influence on badger framings, and thus on the protection of badgers.