Badger cull ends across all 10 areas

The culling of hundreds of badger across seven areas has ended – but the row over whether it is working to reduce bovine TB goes on.

A Defra spokesman said marksmen had ceased operations in all 10 areas where culling had been taking place this summer.

“We can confirm badger culling operations have finished for this year across the regions,” confirmed the spokesman.

See also: Controlled badger cull looks likely for Wales

“We will be releasing the data later in the year, most likely in December.”

Badger culls were carried out this summer in seven new regions of England after the government extended the policy to areas badly affected by TB.

Natural England issued culling licences to 10 areas in total, with culls in Herefordshire, Devon and Cornwall added to the culls in Gloucestershire, Somerset and Dorset.

Across all 10 areas, marksmen were tasked with removing a minimum of 9,841 badgers in order to meet their targets. However, no more than 14,213 badgers could be culled.

According to a Defra source, there have been fewer protests this year than in previous years.

Activist arrests

Four people were arrested over the six-week culling period in Gloucestershire, as part of a joint operation between Gloucestershire and West Mercia Police in response to the Defra-managed cull.

A spokesman for Gloucestershire Police said: “We think the local communities were satisfied with how we policed the culls this year.

“The four arrests were for dangerous driving, criminal damage of badger traps and assisting an offender.”

Police forces are due to release official figures on the costs of policing the culls later this year.

The culling operations may be over for this year, but the argument over whether the policy is humane and effective rumbles on.

NFU president Meurig Raymond said: “The chief vet has made it clear that dealing with the disease in both cattle and badgers is essential to tackling the disease effectively and that proactive badger control is currently the best available option for dealing with the disease in badgers.”

But Jeanne Berry, of Gloucestershire Against Badger Shooting, said: “The NFU is leading farmers down a blind alley, which is undermining their credibility and will not help solve the terrible problem of bovine TB.”