More than 2,000 badgers are to be killed in North Pembrokeshire in a cull approved by the Welsh Assembly Government to protect cattle from bovine tuberculosis.
The RSPCA condemned the decision, saying that there were more effective ways of reducing bovine tuberculosis in cattle, such as more frequent testing of cattle and greater controls on their movement.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is expected to announce before the summer that it will approve widespread shooting of badgers in England.
Previous plans for a cull in Wales were dismissed by the Court of Appeal in July after the Badger Trust won a legal challenge to stop it.
The Welsh government put forward revised proposals shortly afterwards for a cull in a specified area in the corner of the country most affected by the disease. It has now announced that the cull will go ahead.
Advertisement
Colin Booty, senior wildlife scientist at the RSPCA, said: “The RSPCA is saddened to hear that the Welsh government has decided to go down the road of a cull after all.
“We believe that this is a dead-end policy in every respect. Not only will it result in the death of at least 70 per cent of badgers from the cull area, but it will not resolve the problem in other areas of Wales.
“Geographical features which exist in the Pembrokeshire area mean that such a policy cannot be rolled out for use elsewhere in all the TB affected areas of Wales. In addition, the Independent Scientific Group concluded that the elimination of badgers across large areas was not a feasible control option.”
The Independent Scientific Group on bovine TB conducted a ten-year trial of culling badgers that cost taxpayers £50 million and resulted in about 11,000 badgers being killed. Its final report, in 2007, concluded that killing badgers could actually increase the spread of bovine TB by displacing badger populations. “Badger culling can make no meaningful contribution to cattle TB control in Britain,” it said.
Many farmers remain convinced, however, that badgers are the main cause of TB in their herds.
Advertisement
Elin Jones, Rural Affairs Minister for Wales, said: “I am aware that this decision will cause some people genuine concern, but it is a decision I have taken based on full consideration of the matter. The evidence presented to me will be made public on the Welsh Assembly Government website.”
The Badger Trust said that the decision was “misconceived and counterproductive”. There had been significant reductions in bovine TB over the last two years.
A spokesman said: “The trust will be studying the evidence presented to the minister in detail and will seek legal advice in relation to the latest decision, which may also be subject to a challenge in the Welsh Assembly.”