Today’s children may never get the chance to see a local badger or marvel at their complex and amazing setts

This month Environment Secretary Michael Gove authorised a further 11 licences to cull badgers, taking the total across the UK to 31.

Dominic Dyer, chief executive of the Badger Trust said that by doing so he had ‘given the green light to the largest destruction of badgers in living memory’.

The Trust estimate that 40,000 badgers have been culled so far this year, taking the total since 2013 to 75,000, by 2020 the number of badgers culled is predicted to have reached 150,000 at a cost of £50million to the taxpayer.

The cull was instigated, following lobbying by the NFU the League Against Cruel Sports claim on their website, as a measure to combat the spread of bovine TB.

One of the areas where a licence has been granted is Staffordshire, the company charged with implementing the cull has been authorised to kill between 3184 and 4311 badgers.

Staffordshire Wildlife Trust have refused to allow the cull to take place on their land, chief executive Julian Woolford told the Sentinel that it was ‘unacceptable’, adding that it was a ‘dangerous distraction from addressing the main route of TB transmission in cattle'.

Vaccination of cattle against TB is currently banned under EU law, despite the main route of transmission being between cattle.

The League Against Cruel Sports and the Badger Trust both advocate the vaccination of badgers as an alternative to a cull. This approach has also been backed by the Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs committee, which called on the government to produce a clear strategy for doing so in 2013.

The League also oppose the cull on grounds that it is inhumane. They claim that 18% of badgers shot die after a protracted period of suffering.

They also point to the ineffectiveness of a cull in protecting cattle from TB, a point supported by tests conducted in Wales earlier this year.

In July The Independent reported that out of 37 badgers trapped and blood tested 5 were found to be infected with TB and killed. When the tests were repeated under laboratory conditions the tests proved negative, suggesting that no conclusive evidence for badgers transmitting TB is available, a finding the government refutes.

Quoted in the Sentinel Farming Minister George Eustice cites official figures showing that after a cull in Gloucester the incidence of TB in cattle fell from 10.4% to 5.6%, saying that it is ‘evidence that our strategy for dealing with this slow moving and insidious disease is delivering results'.

He added that the government was ‘committed to pursuing a wide range of interventions to protect the future of our dairy and beef industries’.

The issue of badgers culling is hugely emotive and taps into deep concerns about the government’s stewardship of the environment.

In a joint statement quoted in the Sentinel Staffordshire Badger Conservation Group and Staffordshire Against the Cull said they were ‘highly concerned' that a cull will lead to ‘the extinction of badgers in Staffordshire’.

They add that ‘today’s children may never get the chance to see a local badger or marvel at their complex and amazing setts'.