||First came the news that the Badger Trust had formally warned the authorities to abandon the shooting or face a high court challenge on the grounds that a plan to more than double the killing period is illegal. Should the killing go on, they would seek an injunction. Jeff Hayden of the Badger Trust quite rightly remarked, “This government has a feudal attitude towards wildlife.” Natural England, feudal bastion that it is, is still considering whether to grant the marksmen extra time. But then Natural England’s lead scientist and wildlife biologist David Macdonald pops up, saying the cull should be stopped immediately. He was followed by Huw Irranca-Davies, a shadow environment minister, who wrote to Poul Christensen, chair of Natural England, saying that granting the Gloucester cull an extension would destroy the credibility of the wildlife watchdog. He wrote: “The hard-won reputation of Natural England for sound impartial and evidence-based advice which can support but also challenge policy makers is on the line.” This is the same Natural England that, much to the anger of the RSPB and other wildlife conservation groups who had thought they were being consulted, secretly granted licenses to pheasant shoots allowing them to kill or cage buzzards and destroy their nests. ||
Posted on: Fri, 25 Oct 2013 08:56:12 +0000