GLOUCESTERSHIRE Wildlife Trust has welcomed a recent report which urges the Government to reconsider its plans for a badger cull in England this autumn.

The report ‘Common Sense and Bovine TB’ published by the Bow Group on March 25 presents their reasons why they believe badger culling is not the answer.

The Bow Group, a think tank founded in 1951 which contributes to government policy-making, says the Government is choosing the wrong method for tackling bovine Tuberculosis (bTB).

They say that in contrast, trials of vaccinating a proportion of the wild badger population with Badger BCG has shown to reduce incidences of TB by almost 74 per cent.

Dr Gordon McGlone, chief executive at Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust, said: “We welcome the recommendation that the Government should assemble a group to strategically develop badger vaccination.

“The trust is using badger vaccination on its own reserves and feels a well coordinated deployment of the badger vaccination will be effective within England rather than a piecemeal approach which seems to be emerging.”

In January, Defra confirmed that parts of Gloucestershire and Somerset had been selected as the most suitable for a six-week pilot for the controlled shooting of badgers.