Further details of the Welsh Assembly's bovine tuberculosis eradication programme have emerged.
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The badger cull will be carried out on about 300 farms in north Pembrokeshire as part of the Welsh assembly's £27m programme.
Christianne Glossop, the Welsh chief veterinary officer, said exact details of the cull area were still to be finalised, but she expected it to extend to approximately 200sq km.The aim was to kill about 80% of the estimated 1000 badgers living in the area, and the cull would proceed on all farms, even those without cattle.
Dr Glossop told a press conference that she hoped all farmers in the area would co-operate, but warned that those who opposed the cull could be compelled to let Welsh assembly contractors on to their land to trap and shoot badgers.
She also confirmed that police had been consulted about providing protection for operatives carrying out the work.
The farms involved will have to comply with tough controls on cattle movements, possibly including pre- and post-movement tests in purchased cattle, and restrictions on buying in feed from outside the pilot area.
Earlier Elin Jones, Welsh rural affairs minister, told an assembly plenary session that the decision to cull in an intensive action pilot area was based on comprehensive advice.
It would be part of a programme that also included tough regulations designed to defend the area from the introduction of infection from outside.
Another element of the Welsh bid to tackle TB is Health Check Wales, a rigorous testing regime which is already underway. It has identified 23 reactor herds and 94 inconclusive herds that might not otherwise have been detected for years.
The number of overdue tests has fallen from 711 in October to 2008 to 141 on 10 March this year.
"I have established regional eradication delivery boards to deliver a co-ordinated and concerted approach to eradicating TB on a regional basis.
Even with the programme, compensation payments were likely to cost the taxpayer £30m in the next financial year.
Read more about the Welsh badger cull>>