Fury over number of badgers culled
A CONSERVATION group says it is “horrified” after government figures revealed almost 4,000 badgers were killed in Somerset as part of the latest cull.
The statistics show the number of badgers removed in all 42 existing intensive cull areas since September 2020, four of which are in Somerset. All the numbers are within the limits allowed.
In Somerset, a total of 3,894 badgers were killed.
Of these, 3,277 were removed by controlled shooting and 617 were removed by cage-trapping.
One of the first cull zones was created in Somerset in 2013, the other being in Gloucestershire.
A total of 38,642 badger deaths were recorded by the government in this cull.
These latest figures bring the total to more than 140,000 since 2013, with a further 60,000-plus expected in the next two years.
The Badger Trust has described its “horror” and “outrage” at the latest figures, calling the cull the “highest kill rate yet” as it marks an increase of more than 10 per cent on 2019’s figures.
The badger cull is in place to limit the spread of bovine tuberculosis in cattle.
Dawn Varley, acting CEO at Badger Trust, said: “The culling policy is inhumane and unnecessary at best, and at worst it’s a smokescreen and ineffective strategy to appease farmers.
“We fundamentally challenge the need to kill badgers, when the science consistently fails to pinpoint them as the major cause of transmission of this terrible disease in cattle.”
A spokesperson for Natural England said the public body monitored the cull closely, as in previous years, and that the level of removal leaves them “confident of disease control benefits”.
They said: “The levels of contractor shooting effort, number of cage-traps set and number of badgers removed were recorded on a daily basis in all accessible land parcels.
“This provided Natural England with regular information on the numbers of badgers removed, the amount of effort deployed by each control company and its spatial distribution. The likelihood of suffering in badgers is comparable with the range of outcomes reported when other control activities, currently accepted by society, have been assessed.”
The government’s publication of the cull figures comes after the announcement that new badger cull licences are to be stopped after 2022.
The environment secretary George Eustice announced a consultation into government efforts to eradicate bovine TB by 2038, which intends to focus on vaccinating badgers and cattle against the bacteria instead.