Campaigners plead to 'end the cull' after figures reveal almost 3,000 Shropshire badgers killed last year

Campaigners, Shropshire Badger Group, have expressed dismay at the latest Defra figures, which reveal 2,873 badgers were culled in Shropshire last year.

Since 2013, over 10,000 of the county's badgers have been killed in the government's controversial culling strategy despite calls from animal welfare groups and scientists to stop the cull.

The strategy was implemented in 2013 in England as a measure to control the spread of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in cattle.

But opponents, including the Shropshire Badger Group, said the cull is "unscientific, unethical and ineffective".

Jim Ashley, chairman of Shropshire Badger Group said: “The latest scientific analysis of Defra’s figures has shown that badger culling does not work as a cattle protection strategy.

"Instead, restricting cattle movements and enhanced biosecurity is effective at reducing rates of bTB herd breakdowns.

"Already the most nature-depleted landscape of all G7 nations, Britain cannot afford to lose even more of its native species, particularly those which are vital to the health of our countryside.

"However, for the first time in history, badger setts across England are empty, and local Badger Groups across cull counties report cases of localised badger extinctions.

"Some of these setts can be hundreds of years old and form part of our natural heritage.

"Their vacancy, alongside a yearly tax-payer bill of £100 million and no significant decrease in bTB herd breakdowns, is the legacy of a government strategy that has not worked.

“Scientists have been working for the last 25 years on developing a vaccine for cattle and it is blindingly obvious that this vaccine should be urgently introduced to end the misery of bTB for farmers and our native wildlife.

"We saw how quickly a vaccine was developed against Covid when the political will was there.”

Sally Jones, groups co-ordinator of Badger Trust said: “Both Wales and Scotland have far fewer cases of bTB than England, and neither country culls badgers. Instead, they concentrate on cattle-based measures.

"With only 15 per cent of English adults supporting badger culling, and bTB persisting in England despite the loss of up to half of Britain’s badgers, the government must finally accept that enough is enough – badger culling has not worked.

"Overall, the loss of badgers is a twofold tragedy, as the loss of badgers will be a loss to our British cultural heritage and our already struggling ecosystems.

"The beloved brock is deserving of our protection, it is not deserving of a relentless government effort to see its annihilation. This disaster has gone on for too long. Enough is enough. It is time to end the cull.”