Badger cull demand as numbers rise 77%

21 August 1997

Badger cull demand as numbers rise 77%

FARMERS want a return to badger-culling after reading a report that says badger numbers have risen 77% over 10 years. The NFU points to an increase in cases of bovine TB in dairy cattle in areas where there has been an “explosion” in badger numbers.

The author of the report – commissioned by the Peoples Trust for Endangered Species – described the rise in badgers as a steady recovery from their position 10 years ago. Farmers should rather vent their anger at Governments which, he said, had wasted £1000 an animal culling badgers rather than looking for other ways to cut bovine TB.