After several discussions, postponements and objections, the pilot badger culls planned in Gloucestershire and West Somerset are set to be given the go-ahead later this year after final licence conditions were met. A reserve pilot will also be prepared in Dorset.
The culls are planned in order to halt the spread of TB in cattle, and will involve shooting badgers in the open without trapping them in cages first.
The authorisation which is provided by Natural England states that the culling will last for six weeks and can begin from 1 June. It will allow farmers in Gloucestershire and West Somerset to shoot up to 5,094 badgers. This is a move that will be repeated for the next four years despite strong opposition.
Environment Secretary Owen Paterson said, "I am determined that there are no further delays this year." He added, "That is why we have taken the sensible step with the farming industry to elect a reserve area that can be called upon should anything happen to prevent culling in Somerset or Gloucester."
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said that the pilot will be independently checked to make sure it is removing enough badgers in a humane way, even though those in opposition to it, including the RSPCA, claim the cull is inhumane.
Ian Johnston of the NFU, said, "Last year the conditions weren't right. We need to do this properly in a very particular way and that's why the NFU asked for it to be postponed. When you have 30,000 cattle going to their death prematurely and farm businesses being destroyed... then doing nothing is not an option. So you've got to do it."
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