The reason that a badger cull was planned was due to the fact that badgers that are infected by the TB bacterium are able to spread it to herds of cattle.

It is estimated that bovine TB costs the UK around £100 million per year and over the next 10 years the total cost could go up to £1 billion.

Clearly this is a huge amount of money and farmers in areas that are affected by bovine TB are keen on the cull being undertaken.

However, there is fierce opposition against the cull and this is due to two factors:

- One is that the badger is currently a protected species under both UK and European laws which means that anyone killing them would have to have a particular license to do so and be sanctioned by government ministers.

- The second is that many people object to the method that was used to kill badgers in the RBCT (Randomised Badger Culling Trial). In the RBCT badgers were caught in cages and then shot and many people believe that this was an inhumane way to cull badgers as being trapped in a cage caused them anxiety and stress. When the plans were put together for a UK cull this was the method that was going to be used to help to control the numbers of diseased badgers that are currently in the wild.

Under the new plans which are due to go on the consultation government officials are interested in using fully trained marksmen to shoot the badgers at night time. They will not be using the method of trapping badgers in cages and then shooting them, often hours later.

It is thought that not only would this method be more cost effective it would also be much better for the animals as they would be killed by a single shot.

Anyone employed as a marksman would have to undergo training and be a holder of a deerstalking license. This new method will be trialled in two areas if the consultation does not bring up any major issues that will need to be discussed.

It is thought that culling badgers so that they cannot pass the TB bacteria from farm to farm could reduce the disease in local areas by up to 16%. This would have a definite benefit on the farmers in these areas as they would not lose money due to their herds contracting the disease.

While this seems like a simple and straightforward plan there is another problem that could occur if a badger cull goes ahead and that is the threat of perturbation. This is the name given to the way in which badgers will scatter when they are being shot.

When they scatter they move on to other local areas and many believe that this could increase the number of cattle suffering from bovine.

So, before a UK cull can be given the go ahead for 2013 the new plans need to be discussed and an agreement needs to be reached.

The criticism relates specifically to the lion enclosure used overnight in the winter, with the report stating:

“There were clear signs of fighting between the animals; the overnight house was inadequate in space provision and facilities for the animals, structurally unsound and unsafe to operate.”

“The lions were confined in the winter season for unreasonable lengths of time.”

However, Woburn Safari Park was praised for its conservation work in other areas and the report did note that the unacceptable situation was a temporary one:

However, it was clear that the Woburn management were acting to improve the situation.

A spokesman for Woburn Safari Park has stated that the Defra inspectors misunderstood the fact that lions were free to move between 10 interlinked enclosures during the evening, and also confirmed that a new state-of-the-art enclosure was currently being built:

“The new overnight facility will be bigger than most zoo facilities for lions and the existing day-time facility is bigger than most UK zoos in their entirety.”

It is surprising that conditions in a UK zoo were allowed to deteriorate to such an inadequate standard but fortunately the situation is now being improved.

You can take a look at the lions at Woburn Safari Park in the video below: