News, comment and analysis on badgers and the cull
November 2021
Country diary
Country diary 1921: speaking up for the badger
4 November 1921: There are laws to protect domestic animals but ‘wild’ mammals may be tortured with impunity
August 2021
On death row with Geronimo the condemned alpaca, and an army of ‘angels’ at his side
‘It’s torture’: Geronimo owner tells of anxiety over threat to alpaca
February 2021
Country diary
Country diary: the introspective potter of a badger's night out
Sandy, Bedfordshire: The defining visual features left by this JCB of an animal are the thick, long claws
January 2021
New mass badger culls to be banned after 2022, says minister
Drive to eradicate TB in cattle will instead focus on vaccination and limiting livestock movements
November 2020
Badgers culled despite two studies casting doubt on TB link, say vets
Group of leading vets claim research, not published for two years, shows the mammals would have been unlikely to infect cattle
September 2020
Badger cull extended in England with more than 60,000 in line of fire
Country diary
Country diary: there’s a telltale musky smell beneath the plum tree
July 2020
Bovine TB vaccine trials get go-ahead in England and Wales
Scientific breakthrough could lead to phasing out of badger culling to tackle disease
May 2020
Farmers lose legal challenge to cancellation of Derbyshire badger cull
Wildlife groups welcome ruling as high court dismisses judicial review by NFU on all grounds
March 2020
More than 100,000 badgers slaughtered in discredited cull policy
'Seismic shift’: ministers signal end of badger cull
February 2020
'Are they mean?' Donald Trump obsessed with badgers, new book claims
The secret diary of Carrie Symonds
Now to badger Bozzie over some other magnificent British beasties
Catherine Bennett
January 2020
Shortcuts
Undue influence: Carrie Symonds and the curse of political wives
Boris Johnson’s girlfriend – whose influence over a ditched badger cull will be explored in court – is far from the first political “Wag” to be presented as scheming
Court to probe Carrie Symonds’ influence on PM after cancellation of badger cull
Boris Johnson’s partner and animal rights activist was briefed by Badger Trust weeks before the policy was changed
Greenpeace included with neo-Nazis on UK counter-terror list
Exclusive: Extinction Rebellion and Peta also named in anti-extremism briefing alongside Combat 18 and National Action
December 2019
TB infection from cow to cow more likely than transmission by badger
Study is a first to show direct evidence of the disease passing between the two species
November 2019
Badger cull activists hit out at cost of shooters' tracking devices
Defra revealed that more than £300,000 of public money has been spent on the devices
October 2019
Brian May: Queen won't play Glastonbury without badger cull apology
Guitarist rules out 50th anniversary headline slot because of rift with festival founder
