§ Lord Hyltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether, since badgers have no natural predators, they will authorise culling in areas where (a) the badger population is rapidly increasing; or (b) there have been recent outbreaks of bovine tuberculosis. [HLA613]
§ Lord Whitty(a) We have no plans to authorise the culling of badgers in areas where the badger population is rapidly increasing.
(b) The only badger culling authorised in respect of bovine TB is that carried out as part of the randomised badger culling trial (RBCT). There are no plans to issue licences to cull outside RBCT areas while the research is ongoing.