Coincides with renewed criticism of Welsh cull opt-out

The first provisional licence for badgers to be culled has been issued in the West Gloucestershire pilot cull area, a move which could lead the way for the commencement of the cull in a few weeks' time.

The licence, issued by Natural England, is only provisional as a number of issues still need to be resolved before the cull can be embarked upon. However, it is expected that another provisional licence will also be issued for the West Somerset region very shortly.

Natural England needs to set upper and lower limits of the number of badgers to be culled over the six week period - a minimum of 70 per cent will need to removed to help ensure effectiveness in reducing bTB, but a limit must be set to ensure local badger populations are not wiped out completely.

The move comes at a time when the European Commission's bTB sup group, made up of veterinary experts from across the EU, have supported the Farmers Union of Wales in their criticism of the Welsh Government's choosing to opt out of the cull in favour of a vaccination programme.

The report states that: "There is no scientific evidence to demonstrate that badger vaccination will reduce the incidence of TB in cattle," and goes on to say "however, there is considerable evidence to support the removal of badgers in order to improve the TB status of both badgers and cattle."