Activists lose court case to stop Defra's decision to extend badger cull zones

Ecologist Tom Langton, who is also a member of the animal welfare charity Badger Trust, lost the High Court case against the government
Ecologist Tom Langton, who is also a member of the animal welfare charity Badger Trust, lost the High Court case against the government

Badger activists have lost a High Court case to stop the government's decision to extend cull zones to nine new areas.

Ecologist Tom Langton, who is also a member of the animal welfare charity Badger Trust, challenged aspects of the government's badger cull policy.

It follows the government's decision to allow badger culling in the Low Risk Area of England in the event that bovine TB in badgers is linked with infected herds.

There are new proposals to increase the number of cull zones licensed this year, including Avon, Berkshire, Derbyshire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Wiltshire.

The High Court heard from the past Defra Secretary Andrea Leadsom and current Secretary Michael Gove.

Mr Langton, who took the case against the Government, said senior ministers have operated in a manner he believes is "unlawful" when it comes to bovine TB policy.

But Dominic Dyer, chief executive of the Badger Trust, added that the verdict gave Defra “the green light to push the badger to the verge of local extinction in many parts of England”.

He said: “By ruling in the high court today that supplementary cull licences are lawful, farmers and landowners across England will now be able to kill badgers on an open ended basis with little training and no effective independent scrutiny.”

Across England, badgers are culled as part of a government initiative to reduce the spread of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in cattle – a disease which causes serious loss in cattle herds and financial hardship for farmers.