Badger cull under way, Defra confirms

The third year of the pilot badger culls aimed at tackling bovine TB is under way, the government has confirmed.

A Defra spokesman told Farmers Weekly: “Culling has started in Somerset, Gloucestershire and Dorset.”

In Somerset, marksmen have been set a target of removing a minimum of 55 badgers and a maximum of 524 during a six-week period.

See also: Farmer fury as Defra blocks badger cull in two TB hotspots

Marksmen have been set a target of removing between 265 and 670 badgers in Gloucestershire in the open period

Meanwhile, in Dorset the first year of a four-year cull has started after Defra agreed to extend the cull to a third county. No details of targets in the county have been released by licensee Natural England.

“Our approach of dealing with the disease in cattle and wildlife has worked overseas and is supported by leading vets”
George Eustice, farm minister

Farm minister George Eustice said: “England has the highest incidence of TB in Europe and that is why we are taking strong action to deliver our 25-year strategy to eradicate the disease and protect the future of our dairy and beef industries.

“This includes strengthening cattle testing and movement controls, vaccinating badgers in the buffer zone around high-risk areas, and culling badgers where the disease is rife.

“Our approach of dealing with the disease in cattle and wildlife has worked overseas and is supported by leading vets.”

But anti-cull campaigners reacted angrily to the start of this year’s cull.

The Humane Society International UK said it was “devastating” news and insisted that the policy would end in failure.

Meanwhile anti-cull group Stop The Cull said activists had set up temporary bases outside cull zones from where they would co-ordinate a campaign to stop marksmen shooting badgers.

According to Defra, last year 32,859 cattle were slaughtered in the UK due to TB, devastating farm livelihoods and costing the taxpayer more than £100m in compensation payments.