Activists flood the Somerset cull zone as guns start firing
from SchNEWS
The shooting of badgers in Somerset has started this week. The cull is aiming to kill over 70% of the badger population in the area in a misguided attempt to stop tuberculosis (TB) in cattle. The TB problem is mainly down to poor farming practices and inbreeding of the cows, (see Schnews 836) but some would rather scapegoat badgers. Gloucestershire has not started their cull yet, but may do next week.
There has always been huge public opposition to killing badgers and the start of the shooting has seen some of those people taking direct action. As soon as the marksmen started shooting, there were people sabotaging it. Stop the Cull reported the first incident on Tuesday night in the Stogumber area when people heard shots and then some people made enough noise to send the badgers safe underground. The shooting stopped. Since then, there seem to have been problems for the marksmen every time badger friendly people find them. Finding them is a bit tricky, which is why more people are needed to help.