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31/12/2007

Badgers face slaughter to tackle bovine TB



Thousands of badgers will be culled to combat the spread of tuberculosis in cattle, under plans being drawn up by farmers and vets.

Fourteen leading agricultural and veterinary organisations met earlier this month and agreed a controversial strategy to start killing the animals.

The extermination will cover a vast area of the West Country, with the first cull expected to take place this summer. Organisers hope the cull can then be repeated for the next three years.

The proposed area covers Britain's best-known badgers, on the Fishleigh Estate near Okehampton, Devon, who have been watched by millions on BBC2's Springwatch series.

The Government has yet to decide whether to formally permit a cull, but Lord Rooker, the farming and animal health minister, admits that it has "no justification" to reject it.

Scientists claim badgers act as a reservoir for TB, contracting it from cattle and then reinfecting them.

Both bovine TB and the badger population are on the increase - confirmed infections have risen from 125 in 1994 to about 2,000 last year.




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