More than 19,000 badgers have been killed in the past three months in the Government-backed cull intended to stamp out TB in cattle.
The figure is nearly twice the number killed last year and led to a warning from conservationists that the programme could lead to the animals being wiped out completely in some areas.
Around 34,000 badgers have been slaughtered since the cull began in two areas in 2013. It was carried out in 19 zones this year, mostly across the West Country.
More than 19,000 badgers have been killed in the last three months as part of a government backed scheme to stamp out TB
Farming minister George Eustice said the cull formed part of a plan to ‘stamp out’ bovine TB by 2038 and was ‘delivering results’. ‘We are also addressing the disease in wildlife and it is encouraging to see early research shows badger control is having the expected results in driving down levels of TB,’ he said.
Cattle in high-risk areas are also being tested on a six-month basis and badgers living near areas of high TB infection will be vaccinated against the disease.
But campaigners claim the cull is cruel – and that badgers could disappear entirely in some counties. They also dispute that it is an effective way to tackle TB.
Badger Trust chief executive Dominic Dyer said the shooting dead of 19,274 badgers was the largest destruction of a protected species in living memory and added that the cull was pushing the badger to local extinction in Devon.
Cattles living in high-risk TB areas are tested every six months with 29,000 culled in the fight against bovine TB
‘If [Environment Secretary] Michael Gove truly wants to be remembered for putting animal welfare and wildlife protection at the top of the political agenda, he should announce an immediate halt to badger culling and a wide-ranging review of this disastrous, cruel costly policy.’
He described the amount spent on the programme as a ‘national disgrace’. Dealing with Bovine TB in England costs taxpayers over £100million a year, required the culling of more than 29,000 cattle in 2016 and causes devastation among rural communities.
RSPCA head of wildlife Adam Grogan described the cull as ‘inhumane and ineffective’. ‘Bovine TB is a devastating disease that causes suffering to cattle and badgers and farmers face seeing their cattle destroyed and their business restricted,’ he said.
‘However, scientific evidence shows that badgers avoid cattle where possible and indicates that the role they play in spreading bovine TB is vastly over-estimated.’
He called for an inquiry to examine other measures such as stricter controls on the movement of cattle, increased levels of cattle testing and vaccination of both badgers and cattle.