WARWICKSHIRE Wildlife Trust says 130,000 more badgers will be killed over the next four years and government must stop issuing cull licenses immediately.
The trust has joined forces with others across the country to share their response to government’s consultation on the badger cull.
Government proposals suggest an end to granting cull licenses in 2022, but the trust says this could result in another 130,000 badgers being killed over the next four years.
They are calling for an immediate stop to licences, a cattle vaccine to reduce bovine TB and a review on how cattle are transported around the country.
Wildlife Trust spokeswoman Jo Smith said: “There is much confusion in the public domain about the government proposals to end the badger cull. Recent media headlines stated the cull would end in 2022 but the reality is that badger culling will continue until at least 2026 and possibly even 2028.
“This is because the majority of cull licenses last four years and the proposals indicate that cull licenses could still be followed by supplementary cull licenses of up to another two years.”
Wildlife Trusts are calling on the public to respond to the consultation which ends on March 24 and help end the cull.
The trusts say they have always been against the cull and believe it is ineffective against bovine tuberculosis. To date, over 140,000 badgers have been culled and the proposals recently announced by the government as part of a consultation process will result in approximately another 130,000 badgers being killed. The total badger population in England and Wales was estimated to be around 485,000 in 2017.
Visit www.wildlifetrusts.org/stand-up-for-badgers to respond to the consultation on the badger cull.
