The Badger Trust, which launched an appeal against Government proposals to kill thousands of wild badgers in England, has lost its court battle. Badger culling was proposed in order to eradicate the threat of TB as the disease in cattle costs the UK, the Government claims, over £100 million a year.
The Badger Trust challenged a judicial review in July to uphold Government proposals to pilot the cull. However, as their appeal has now failed, pilot badger culls could begin in Gloucestershire and Somerset within weeks.
Jeff Haydon of the Badger Trust said, "We're pleased that the judge has clarified the law but we are disappointed with the verdict. It hasn't changed the scientific facts at all. The majority of independent scientific opinion says the cull is unlikely to work and most probably will make matters worse."
However, a spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said, "Nobody wants to cull badgers. But no country in the world where wildlife carries TB has eradicated the disease in cattle without tackling it in wildlife too."
A controlled shooting of badgers will begin in Autumn, and will last for six weeks. Two companies have been established by farmers to manage the cull, using trained marksmen to shoot the badgers at night in the two pilot areas.
The cull is, however, only planned for England. Plans to begin culling in Wales were recently abandoned in favour of a vaccination policy, and there are no proposals to cull them in Scotland.
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