21:33
Tieng Anh Vui
A cull of thousands of badgers in Gloucestershire has begun - a week after the first stage of the government pilot got under way in Somerset.
Gloucestershire Police said its badger cull policing operation was at "full capacity" from 20:00 BST on Tuesday but no arrests had been made.
About 5,000 badgers are expected to be killed in controlled shootings over six weeks in a bid to curb bovine TB.
Anti-cull protesters have vowed to disrupt the shootings.
More than 100 campaigners gathered in Gloucestershire, with observers monitoring the cull zone for signs of shooting.
'Even-handed'
Drew Pratten, from Stop the Cull, said the group was confident it could prevent the cull taking place, adding: "We're as ready as we will ever be to stop it by getting between the setts and the pre-baiters."
A Gloucestershire Police spokesman said the cull was a Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) policy that was being implemented by private companies under licence by Natural England.
England's badger cull
- Badgers are being shot by marksmen in the west of England as part of measures to protect cattle from bovine tuberculosis (TB)
- The marksmen will shoot the badgers at night after putting food such as peanuts outside their setts. This method has not been formally tested before
- Badgers are thought to pass on the disease to cattle through their urine, faeces or through droplet infection, in farmyards or in pastures
- However, the extent of their role in the spread of bovine TB is not clear since the cows can also pass on the disease
- According to one newspaper report, cage-trapping badgers for vaccination (or shooting) costs about £2,500 per hectare, whereas shooting them as they run freely costs about £200
He added: "Our role will be operationally independent, impartial, even-handed and fair to everyone whatever their views, interest or involvement in the pilot scheme."
Initially the pilot will not examine how successful culling has been in reducing the spread of TB to livestock.
Instead, it will test whether the cull can be carried out "effectively, humanely and safely".
No-one involved in the cull will say how many badgers have so far been shot or killed.
The government has said the cull is necessary and could make a meaningful contribution to controlling TB in cattle.
Campaigners have fought the plans since the test areas were revealed last year. They argue a cull is unnecessary, inhumane and ineffective in controlling the disease.
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