Badger cull: New licences ‘to be banned after 2022’

Is it just me , I don’t understand why we have to wait until 2022 to end this brutal outdated practice ?

From the BBC

New mass badger cull licences are to be stopped after 2022 under plans to phase out culling of the wild animals. The environment secretary George Eustice has launched a consultation on the next phase of the government’s strategy to eradicate bovine TB (bTB) in England by 2038. The drive will instead focus on vaccinating badgers and cattle. The first cull zones were created in 2013 in Somerset and Gloucestershire. Mr Eustice said: “bTB is one of the most difficult and intractable animal health challenges that England faces today.”

Farmers said it was necessary to control the disease that devastates the beef and dairy industries. Current policy enables four-year intensive cull licences in defined areas, with scope for a further five years of supplementary culling.

In a statement to the House of Commons, Mr Eustice said last year more than 27,000 cattle in England were slaughtered causing “devastation and distress for hard-working farmers and rural communities”. “Badger culling is one of the most contentious and divisive policies within our bTB eradication strategy,” Mr Eustice added. The farming community has invested heavily in badger culling, which the evidence shows has played a critical role in helping to start turn the tide on this terrible disease.  “But we were clear that culling badgers indefinitely is not acceptable. 

“My proposed approach will enable us to complete the objective we set out to achieve when we started the culls. It will also support our stated intention of phasing out culling over the next few years.”

read the full story here

Meet the Model – Brian the Badger

MEET THE MODEL -KERRY THE KESTREL

KESTREL Falco tinnuncls Wingspan            80 cm Length                  35 cm Weight                  150 – 250 grams Breeding pairs    45,000 pairs Habitat: The Kestrel is the most widely dispersed of the UK’s birds of prey and […]

by phans66 October 2, 2022July 24, 2022

Meet the Model – Bobby the Blue Tit

Meet the Model – Bobby the Blue Tit ,  Cyanstes caeruleus Words and pictures by Peter Hanscomb The Blue Tit is an easy to recognise garden favourite. With it’s small size and distinctive blue and yellow plumage , the Blue tit is a regular garden visitor that’s wide spread throughout the British Isles and mainland […]

by phans66 October 1, 2022July 24, 2022

THE GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER

Meet the Model , Woody the Great Spotted Woodpecker The Great spotted woodpecker , Dendrocopos major is one of three native woodpeckers here in the U.K ( the other two species are the Lesser spotted and Green woodpecker ) The Great spotted woodpecker is actually smaller than most people imagine being roughly the same size […]

by phans66 September 30, 2022July 24, 2022