Plans for back-up cull zones
Three months after the government announced the postponement of the badger cull, the National Farmers Union (NFU) has said it is looking at alternative areas.
The controversial pilot cull was originally planned to take place in late Summer, however, it was delayed due to various legal disputes. If it had not been postponed, the cull would have taken place during the badger breeding season, which posed a risk that young would be left to starve in their sett.
Environment ministers have reiterated that the cull - which farmers are relying on in order to help eradicate bovine tuberculosis, spread by badgers - will take place this summer. Meanwhile, animal rights protesters have continued to voice their opposition.
The NFU is looking into different areas in case the original zones in both Gloucestershire and Somerset are longer willing to carry out the cull. It is believed that farmers in Devon, Cornwall and Derbyshire are being consulted.
"It is the right and responsible thing to ensure that the best areas are selected to be pilots for the planned cull of badgers," said an NFU spokesperson. "As part of the early planning, it's important to ensure that all areas are looked at.
"If other areas present themselves as being better choices for piloting this policy then they should be seriously considered."
NFU President Peter Kendall has spoken of his concern that an area may drop out of the cull.
"If something went wrong in one of the original areas we want to ensure that we have got really strong alternative regions ready to go. We don't know yet whether someone will drop out, so we are making sure that we have got the best possible areas ready to go," he said.
RCVS' Mind Matters Initiative (MMI) has launched round two of its veterinary mental health research grants.
