Trial badger culls end

The six week badger cull in Gloucestershire and Somerset officially ends today. It's the second year that badgers have been shot to try to stop them spreading TB to cattle. Last year the cull was extended because not enough animals had been killed. Protesters say it's been a failure again this year, but the National Farmer's Union disagree.

Results from a poll on the recently trialled badger cull suggests that 9 out of 10 people in the UK are against the practice.

The trial cull in Gloucestershire and Somerset officially ended today. Of the 2000 polled, only 3 in 4 were aware of the cull. They were then given information about the UK trial, and the Welsh government’s success in cutting bovine TB through vaccination rather than culling.

The final poll then showed that 89% said that they wanted the government to stop culling badgers, and instead to follow the Welsh example.

The poll was carried out by ComRes, and was commissioned by Care for the Wild and the Badger Trust.

As the trial badger culls in Gloucestershire and Somerset come to an end, anti cull campaigners say it was a failure last year, and when the figures are released, they will show that this year has been a failure too.

The six week badger culls in Gloucestershire and Somerset officially end tomorrow. It's the second year that the cull has been piloted in both areas. No figures are available yet for the number of badgers killed.

The National Farmer's Union says that it feels the cull has gone better this year than last.