DAVID ATTENBOROUGH CONDEMNS CULL PLANS

Time is running out for Britain’s badgers, harsh reality from the country’s top broadcasters

Eminent and respected television commentators testify their opposition to the Coalition’s unseemly rush to shoot badgers in two pilot cull areas this autumn as part of the battle against bovine tuberculosis.

Sir David Attenborough and Simon King, President of the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts, have joined the mounting opposition to the Coalition Government’s proposed badger slaughter in England. In company with George Monbiot, investigative journalist and Mark Carwardine, zoologist and broadcaster, the four contributors appear in a keynote video production available on You Tube.

The Badger Trust is releasing two videos on the day of its appeal against the decision in the High Court to allow badger culling to go ahead. The Coalition’s push to kill badgers in England is due to start in two pilot areas in West Somerset and Gloucestershire during the next few weeks and it will continue for the next four years.

One video is a hard-hitting tease and links to another video that outlines an authoritative factual account of the case against killing badgers. The contributors highlight the positive alternatives such as vaccinating both badgers and cattle. Statements from these highly respected broadcasters and journalists clarify arguments made by many scientists against the Government’s stance on the proposed cull. Their informed opinion reveals why the science shows unequivocally that killing more badgers would be counter-productive in that it won't work and could make the situation worse.

The internationally renowned creative team based in Bristol offered their services free to make a factual video that presents the Badger Trust’s position on the Coalition’s approach. The Badger Trust emphasises that the Coalition’s approach ignores legitimate and strongly expressed concerns voiced by many members of the scientific community. In addition, they are evading valid questions from the public and organisations such as itself and the Wildlife Trusts.

David Williams, Chairman, said the Badger Trust had been fighting on the issue for years. “We have stood against governments with legal challenges to culling policies and will continue to do so, even though the validity of the science cannot be tested in court. Already more and more members of the general public are contacting us as they are becoming increasingly worried and frustrated by the possibility of badgers being killed in their counties and throughout England.’’

Badger Trust has already won a judicial review in Wales, where yet more badgers would have been killed. Today’s appeal in England is necessarily based on complex points of law, so the Badger Trust‘s videos are vital in highlighting key facts and making them accessible to the public.