Sad day for countryside as badgers targeted

“There are two sides to the scientific research into bovine TB. Sadly, we're only hearing one side, and not the balanced conclusions found after a TEN plus year study into badger management.
In short, the "effects of culling badgers showed that killing over small areas will make the bTB problem worse".
Just like fox's, badgers will move in search of safer ground; others from outside move in to fill the vacant territories and such movements lead to an increase in levels of infection. Incomplete culls or one that is abandoned part way through is likely to lead to an increase in disease outbreaks in cattle, rather than a reduction.
To overcome this, killing badgers would need to occur across large areas of countryside, the kills would need to be carried out initially for at least four years, the significant time to be realised is around 10 years.
Even with an efficient, time consuming and costly cull, around 84% of TB outbreaks will still occur.
Shooting free-ranging badgers as a measure to keep the costs of culling down is an untried and untested culling method - it isn't even a science based approach to combating bovine TB.
Culling badgers under licence not only could fail to achieve a beneficial effect, but could increase the incidence of cattle TB and increase the geographical spread of the disease, irrespective of whether licences were issued to individual farmers or to groups.
Culling over an extended period as proposed by Government risks increasing badger movement and disease spread.
Given the above, it will cost participating farmers more than it will save them.
Yes, badgers are clearly a source of cattle TB according to independent scientific research, but even these same studies commissioned by Defra found badger culling can make no meaningful contribution to cattle TB control in Britain, that weaknesses in cattle testing regimes mean that cattle themselves contribute significantly to the persistence and spread of disease in all areas where TB occurs, and in some parts of Britain are likely to be the main source of infection.
The Government have sat on how best to tackle the problem of cattle TB for over six years and now risk making matters worse; culling in areas adjoining land with low or zero TB risk is likely to achieve no greater overall benefits, shooting badgers in the open at night will also raise significant logistical and health and safety issues.”