Government’s plan to phase out badger cull must mean end to cull licences now

Government’s plan to phase out badger cull must mean end to cull licences now - The Wildlife Trusts

Public urged to respond to badger cull consultation

The Wildlife Trusts have shared their response to the Government’s consultation on the badger cull and are calling upon the Government to stop issuing badger cull licences with immediate effect.

Based on their analysis of the consultation, The Wildlife Trusts are calling on the Government to:

Stop issuing badger cull licences immediately. This will bring an end to the badger cull sooner than proposed, saving tens of thousands of badgers.
Implement a cattle vaccine. Cattle vaccination offers the best long-term way to reduce bovine TB in the cattle population.
Review how cattle are transported around the country and ensure measures are in place to prevent infection spread from cattle to cattle.
Fast track the transition from culling to badger vaccination.

Recent Government proposals suggested an end to granting cull licences in 2022, but this could still result in another 130,000 badgers being killed over the next four years.

Jo Smith, Chief Executive at Derbyshire Wildlife Trust said: “There is much confusion in the public domain about the Government proposals to end the badger cull. Recent media headlines stated that the cull would end in 2022 but the reality is that badger culling will continue until 2026. This is because the majority of cull licences last four years.”

The Wildlife Trusts are calling on the public to respond to the consultation which ends on 24th March – and help end the cull. This is the latest step in the fight by The Wildlife Trusts to end the killing of badgers, a protected species.