Fifty years ago, The Badgers Act 1973 made traditional persecution of Badgers Meles meles unlawful yet allowed for government-sanctioned Badger-culling. Since the previous update in British Wildlife (Barkham 2021), and in the three years before, annual summaries by Natural England (Natural England 2023) suggest an average of around 36,000 mostly completely healthy Badger adults and cubs have been shot annually by gamekeepers, gun enthusiasts and farmers in an attempt to control bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in cattle herds.
caroline legg (CC BY 2.0)