A failure to kill enough badgers (paradoxically I call this a success) has forced those behind England's controversial cull to seek an extension of the night-time shoots in a last-ditch attempt to make up the numbers. Culling is intended to curb the rise of tuberculosis in cattle but experts have warned that dragging out the killing gives more opportunity for badgers to flee the gunmen and could increase TB infections. Mind you, that presupposes that those badgers that escape the gunsights are actually infected, doesn't it?
The UK's leading badger expert, Professor Rosie Woodroffe, said: "I would stop the culls now. They have failed to meet the legal licensing target. There are now many serious questions about this whole approach to TB control."
Ministers are expected to issue a written statement today to parliament. Environment secretary Owen Paterson, bedfellow of the NFU, has argued that the cull is an essential part of TB control even though leading scientists have dismissed the policy as "mindless" and "a costly distraction" from improving vaccination and controls on cattle movements.
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