The badger cull round up: the latest

Badgers are being culled in two trial culls in Gloucestershire and Somerset as part of a trial to prevent the spread of bovine tuberculosis in cattle. The current trial is to test whether free-shooting of badgers is both effective and humane.

The Government points to an earlier badger culling trial – the Random Badger Culling Trial – that was carried out in 1997 for evidence that the culling of badgers reduces bTB in cattle:

Badger culling began in late August for six weeks in total.

Here is a round up of the latest reports and stories from around the web:

BBC Wildlife charity claims to find shot animal: Secret World in Somerset says that it has found the body of a badger it claims has been shot as part of the badger cull

Farmers Weekly Labour demands update on badger cull numbers: Shadow environment secretary Mary Creagh has written to Owen Paterson following newspaper reports that fewer than 100 badgers have been shot in the first two weeks of the badger cull in Somerset

ThisisGloucestershire

Why the badger cull should continue, by Gloucestershire NFU chairman Charles Mann

Guardian

With the badger cull well under way in west Somerset, Patrick Barkham follows anti-cull activists who are engaging in guerrilla-style tactics to try and prevent the badgers from being killed by marksmen

We will update these pages with the latest stories as they come in.