Tens of thousands more badgers face being slaughtered after the Government announced it was widening its controversial cull.
Up to 29,164 of the creatures, blamed for spreading bovine tuberculosis around the countryside, could be killed after “supplementary” cull areas were revealed.
Badger Trust executive director Peter Hambly said: “The first thing many of this year’s new badger cubs will see when they come out of their sett is the barrel of a gun.
“At the same time as we say we want to be more nature-friendy by 2030 we are killing our native wildlife on a daily basis – to the brink of extinction in some areas of England.”
The Mirror told in April how 33,627 badgers were slaughtered last year.
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Badger Trust executive director Peter Hambly (Badger Trust)Added to the 174,517 killed since 2013 under efforts to curb the spread of TB in cattle, it took the total number of badgers culled in the decade-long programme to 208,144.
Publishing the latest cull areas, Natural England, an arm of the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said: “Natural England has licensed and authorised 11 new supplementary badger control areas to begin operations in 2023.
“It has also authorised the licence holders to resume operations in 18 existing supplementary badger control areas in 2023.”
Supplementary licences are issued so the badger population does not bounce back in areas where culling has already taken place.
The Government says the move is needed “to prevent the recovery of the badger population following the completion of annual culling that has lasted at least four years under a badger disease control licence”.
More than 200,000 have been culled in the past decade (Getty Images)The 11 counties affected are: Dorset, Cornwall, Devon, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Somerset, Staffordshire, Avon, Cheshire, Wiltshire and Herefordshire.
Mr Hambly described the cull as “the most toxic wildlife management strategy in Britain’s contemporary history”.
He added: “To kill half of our badger population under these circumstances is a wildlife catastrophe.”
Cull supporters blame badgers for infecting cows with TB.
More than 38,000 cattle were slaughtered in England and Wales in 2021 to tackle the disease, which costs taxpayers about £100million a year.
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Opponents want farmers to implement tougher biosecurity measures - and hope a vaccine could eventually end the cull, with campaigners pointing to a jab which could protect cattle.
In February, the Animal and Plant Health Agency said field trials for a cow inoculation and new skin test for bTB had moved to the next phase.
Environment Secretary Therese Coffey was visiting the Royal Cornwall Show at Wadebridge today. The Duchy is one of the areas where supplementary licences have been issued (Alamy Live News.)A Natural England spokeswoman said: “As both the wildlife licensing authority and Government’s nature conservation adviser, our job is to ensure that the Government’s policy on badger culling and vaccination is implemented humanely, effectively, safely and with full regard to the impacts on nature conservation.
“We are committed to a future where badger vaccination is the primary method for keeping this damaging disease at bay in wildlife.”
A Defra spokeswoman said: “Bovine TB is one of the most difficult and intractable animal health challenges the livestock sector in England faces today, causing considerable trauma for farmers and costing taxpayers over £100m every year.
“We have always been clear that we do not want to continue the current badger cull longer than necessary.
“Our bovine TB eradication strategy has led to a significant reduction in this insidious disease and building on the progress made we are now able to move onto the next phase, including wider badger vaccination, alongside improved cattle testing and work towards deployment of a cattle vaccine. “
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