New figures released last week by Natural England show 29 zones have been issued with supplementary cull licences to kill badgers untested for bovine TB - and the total number of badgers that could be killed in Somerset in this phase of the cull is 1,795.

Eleven new zones ranging from Cornwall to Cheshire have now been issued with supplementary cull licences.

DEFRA-sponsored public body, Natural England, has also authorised licence holders to resume badger killing in a further 18 existing supplementary cull areas.

This new data reveals that between June 1 2023 and January 31 2024, as many as 29,000 badgers could be killed in supplementary cull areas alone, mostly in the South West and West Midlands.

The Badger Trust has criticised the move, saying DEFRA has called this time ‘open season’ for culling badgers, including this year’s cubs, who can be as young as four months old as the killing starts.

They said: “The future of the badger is now seriously under threat, especially in areas of Gloucestershire, Somerset, Devon and Cornwall. And culling resumes at a time when new cubs are just starting to venture further from their setts.

“Just 15 per cent of people in Britain support the badger cull, yet last year, over 33,000 badgers were killed in the cull in England. 88% of these badgers were killed using free-shooting methods, considered an animal welfare abuse and deemed unsuitable for use as a culling method at the start of the cull.

Peter Hambly, Executive Director of Badger Trust, added:“The first thing many of this year’s new badger cubs will see when they come out of their sett is the barrel of a gun. At the same time as we say we want to be more nature-friendly by 2030, we are killing our native wildlife on a daily basis – to the brink of extinction in some areas of England.

“All this when the evidence overwhelmingly points to cattle-to-cattle transmission as the primary spreader of bovine TB.

“The badger cull is the most toxic wildlife management strategy in Britain’s contemporary history.

“To kill half of our badger population under these circumstances is a wildlife catastrophe.”

Over 210,000 badgers have been culled since 2013 in a bid by DEFRA to eradicate bTB in cattle.

Defra said: “Natural England has licensed and authorised 11 new supplementary badger control areas to begin operations in 2023.

“It has also authorised the licence holders to resume operations in 18 existing supplementary badger control areas in 2023.

“Licence holders met all the criteria specified in Defra’s guidance to Natural England, dated May 2021.

“June 1 is the earliest possible date for the start of operations and is the start of the open season.”