Badger Cull Given Green Light

A British High Court justice has rejected a petition to stop the controversial badger cull in England. An appeal by the Badger Trust is likely and a complaint by the UK Humane Society is pending before the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. The UK is a signatory to the European convention that is intended to protect wildlife and its habitat. The Bern Convention Secretariat said it is not satisfied with DEFRA's (UK's ministry for the environment) response to the complaint. Badgers are listed in Appendix III to the Convention which requires participating governments to protect them. The Humane Society complains the cull is unnecessary, will not eliminate TB in cattle, and the government is not enforcing stringent measures for cattle before resorting to wildlife extermination. Conservationists see the cull as a political concession to influential rural interests.