There are new fears over the extinction of badgers in some parts of the country following the Government's latest cull of the animals. A total of 33,687 were killed last autumn through shooting and cage trapping - triggering fury among animal welfare campaigners.
The Mirror reports that figure takes to 174,517 the total number of the creatures killed since the cull began in 2013 - prompting warnings the species could struggle to survive in parts of the country. The Badger Trust said the death toll over the past nine culling seasons represented “over a third of the entire UK badger population”.
Executive director Peter Hambly described the latest statistics, revealed by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, as “nauseating”, adding: “The figures are appalling; the attack on badgers intensifies. With scant evidence that badgers spread bTB (bovine tuberculosis) to cattle, this assault on a much-loved wild animal is reaching catastrophic proportions and needs to stop now."
