Western Australia applies to extend shark cull for three years

Catch-and-kill policy will run from November to April each year until 2017 if Barnett government receives approval from Coalition

Brendan Foster

theguardian.com, Tuesday 8 April 2014 09.55 BST

The WA government wants to extend its controversial shark cull for another three years.

The catch-and-kill policy, which allows hunters to kill sharks longer than three-metres long off the coast off WA, started on 26 January.

A spokesman for the federal environment minister, Greg Hunt, told WAtoday that the Barnett government had applied to continue to drop drum lines off the WA coast. The WA government submitted a 149-page submission to Hunt's office.

If given approval by the federal government, the cull would be from November to April each year until 2017.

The WA government’s current agreement with the Abbott government lasts three more weeks.

It has to get approval from the federal environment minister to continue the drumline policy, as great whites are a protected species.

Under the new proposal, 72 baited lines would be placed off Perth and south-west beaches.

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Gloucestershire badger cull extended by 8 weeks – Risks spreading bTB

Humane Society UK appalled & flabbergasted at "madness" of Gloucestershire badger cull 8 Week extension, risks spreading bTB

October 2013. Leading animal welfare charity, Humane Society International UK, is appalled by news that an eight week extension to the Gloucestershire badger cull has been granted by Natural England. The charity warns that prolonging the shooting is the very worst thing the government can do because it increases the risk of spreading bovine TB as badgers flee the area. 

Perturbation danger 

The extension of the killing period in Gloucestershire more than doubles the original six weeks to 14 weeks. The seminal Randomised Badger Culling Trial highlighted the importance of any cull to be done quickly because of the danger of perturbation. 

Fiasco

Mark Jones, Gloucestershire resident and Executive Director of HSI UK said: "I am appalled & flabbergasted that an eight week extension has been granted to DEFRA's badger killing fiasco in Gloucestershire. By extending culls here as well as in Somerset, the pilots are moving even more dangerously away from the recommendations of the Randomised Badger Culling Trial which were very clear - the longer you subject badgers to this sort of disruption, the greater the risk of worsening the spread of bovine TB among both badgers and cattle. It is utterly illogical to continue with a policy that has already proven such a disaster, and flies squarely in the face of sound scientific advice. Surely somebody in Government can put a stop to Owen Paterson's badger cull madness before it's too late."

In Gloucestershire 708 out of a target 1,650 badgers have been killed. In Somerset 850 badgers out of a target 1,020 have been shot. 

HSI UK has also written to Owen Paterson to ask him to explain himself over unsubstantiated claims he made last week about badger suffering. On 10th October he stated in a parliamentary answer to a question from Angela Smith MP that ‘...some of the animals we have shot have been desperately sick-in the final stages of disease...'.

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Badger cull extended as kills fall short of target

Environment Secretary Owen Paterson has told the House of Commons that extensions of the badger culls in west Somerset and Gloucestershire are now being considered by Natural England.

Mr Paterson said that the pilot culls could be extended by up to three weeks as marksmen have failed to kill enough badgers to reach their original targets.

He told the Commons that 850 badgers had been shot in Somerset during the six-week trial, just over 40% of an initial target of 2,081.

But he insisted the Somerset scheme had been effective and successful.

The controversial pilot culls set out to study if badgers could be killed safely, effectively and humanely.

They are being carried out in an attempt to control TB in cattle, which can be spread by badgers - though opponents say the culls will have no impact.

The plan was to kill 70% of the badgers in the areas of west Somerset and Gloucestershire by free shooting.

Across both regions, this meant around 5,000 badgers were to be killed in total.

Read on

Badgers 'moved goalposts' says minister Owen Paterson

A government minster said "badgers moved the goalposts" when asked why marksmen failed to reach a cull target.

A pilot badger cull in west Somerset may be extended by up to three weeks in an effort to make up the shortfall.

Environment Secretary Owen Paterson was asked if he had "moved the goalposts" by claiming the cull was a success.

"The badgers moved the goalposts. We're dealing with a wild animal, subject to the vagaries of the weather and disease and breeding patterns," he replied.

The pilot culls in Gloucestershire and Somerset set out to study if badgers could be killed safely, effectively and humanely.

They are being carried out in an attempt to control TB in cattle, which can be spread by badgers. Opponents say they will have no impact.

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