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Since 1975, M.A.F.F. (the Ministry for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food) have been trying to prove that badgers transmit bovine tuberculosis to cattle.
There is no direct evidence to link the problem of TB in cattle to badgers, yet despite this fact, in the past 25 years M.A.F.F. has killed more than 30,000 badgers in an effort to control the disease.
The result of all this culling so far - TB in cattle is on the increase.
Now to most rational thinkers it looks like killing badgers has failed to solve the problem. Not to M.A.F.F. They've got a new plan, costing £34 million.
The new plan will result in the total eradication of badgers from an area of over 1000 square kms. Around 20,000 badgers could be killed.
Over 80% of the badgers killed so far were not infected with bovine TB. Many of the females which were killed had young cubs. The cubs were left to wander round and starve to death.
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