Welsh badger cull ‘could begin next week’

A badger cull could begin in south-west Wales as early as next week after a legal challenge to the Welsh Assembly Government’s TB eradication programme was rejected.

The Badger Trust had applied to the High Court for a judicial review of the planned cull but Judge Justice Lloyd Jones ruled that the assembly government’s order was lawful.

Wales’ rural affairs minister, Elin Jones, said the decision paved the way for the cull to begin at “the end of April or the beginning of May”.

“We have been continuing the work on preparing for the cull through discussions with the landowners affected and surveying badger sets,” she said.

“We have said all along that there is a closed period for culling and that closed period comes to an end towards the end of April, beginning of May, and once everything is in place we will look then to undertake this cull.

“Everything is moving ahead as planned, the judicial review process itself didn’t stop us from doing this.”

The minister said the judge’s decision was the result she had hoped for.

“We have invested time and effort in designing our TB eradication programme in its entirety here in Wales and we have done that over a long period of time. “None of the decisions I have taken on the advice given to me have been taken lightly and all have been subject to detailed scrutiny.”

Justice Lloyd Jones heard two days of submissions during a hearing in Swansea last month.

The Badger Trust said it would “carefully consider appealing the judgment.”

NFU Cymru welcomed the judge’s ruling. Stephen James, deputy president, said countries that had successfully eradicated bovine TB had done so through a controlled strategy which had involved dealing with infection in wildlife as well as cattle.

“No one expects a quick fix and the control and eradication of bovine TB will be a long road and one where difficult decisions have to be taken,” he said.

FUW vice president Brian Walters said the decision to allow a cull was “not a time for celebration”.

“Obviously, we are glad that the judge has ratified the considered views of the veterinary establishment and those scientific experts who have advised the assembly’s rural affairs minister,” he added.

When the cull gets underway, peanuts are expected to be used as bait to entice badgers into traps.

The animals are known to like peanuts and they are commonly used to encourage badgers into people’s gardens.