Badger culls in England and Wales - timeline

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/feb/28/badger-culls-england-wales-timeline

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27 February 2008An all-party committee of MPs says controlled culling of badgers may take place in England to control the spread of bovine TB.

13 January 2010A badger cull is to go ahead in Wales to counter TB in cattle.

15 September 2010The government sets out its plans for badger culling in England.

9 March 2011Wales gives the go-ahead for revised badger culls; legal challenges halted trials last year.

11 July 2011Lord Krebs, a former government scientific advisor, says evidence from previous trials shows culling is not effective against bovine TB.

19 July 2011Environment secretary Caroline Spelman tells MPs she is 'strongly minded' to allow badgers to be culled by shooting.

14 December 2011The environment secretary announces that culling will go ahead next year.

19 January 2012Areas in Gloucestershire and Somerset are named as the first badger cull pilot areas.

28 February 2012The legal battle over culling begins.

20 March 2012The Welsh government scraps their plan for culling in favour of vaccination.

12 July 2012The high court rules that badger culling is legal in England, paving the way for culls in the autumn.

11 September 2012A legal challenge to stop the culling fails at the appeals court.

17 September 2012The first culling licence in England is issued.

24 September 2012An e-petition to stop the culling launched by Queen guitarist Brian May attracts over 100,000 signatures.

21 October 2012The Badger Trust mounts a last-minute legal challenge over the validity of licences for culling.

23 October 2012Owen Paterson tells the Commons badger culling will be postponed until next summer.

25 October 2012MPs vote 147 to 28 to abandon badger culling.

27 February 2013Pilot culls in Gloucestershire and Somerset are confirmed by the environment secretary.

28 April 2013The RSPCA has come under fire for criticising the proposed badger culls.

5 June 2013Labour fails in an attempt to stop the culls with a Commons vote.

4 July 2013Environment secretary Owen Paterson vows to eradicate bovine TB from England within 25 years, as he releases plans that include culling and vaccination.

8 August 2013David Cameron defends the culling, calling it 'the right thing to do.'

22 August 2013A high court judge issues an order protecting cull farmers from harassment, banning protesters from entering private land without permission.

27 August 2013Badger culls begin in Goucestershire and Somerset, as the environment secretary defends the move and Labour attacks Defra's decision.

30 August 2013Brian May's anti-culling protest song reaches the charts.

6 September 2013Four protesters are arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass in the Gloucestershire cull zone.

24 September 2013Police officers threaten to pass details of anti-cull protesters to the National Farmers' Union and hand out NFU leaflets; civil liberties lawyers accuse them of bias.

9 October 2013Environment secretary Owen Paterson says 'the badgers are moving the goalposts' as the culls fall short of targets.

11 October 2013The Somerset cull is extended by three weeks, in an attempt to reach the kill targets.

17 October 2013The cull in Goucestershire falls short of its target as marksmen only kill 30% of the population, and may be extended.

19 October 2013The badger cull is hit by legal action from the Badger Trust.

23 October 2013Sir David Attenborough slams the UK government for 'ignoring' science over culling, as illegal gassing and shooting is reported in the trial counties.

5 November 2013The extended badger cull in Somerset fails to reach its target.

29 November 2013The badger cull in Gloucestershire is abandoned, as Nature England revokes the licence over a failure to meet reduced targets. The cull may have increased the risk of TB in cattle.

14 January 2014Data shows the cost of policing badger culls in Somerset and Glucestershire was more than double earlier estimates.

23 January 2014Figures show that only 24% of badgers culled were killed by controlled shooting, the method the pilot schemes were designed to test.

28 February 2014Independent expert assessments obtained by the Guardian show that badger culls in England failed on both humaneness and effectiveness.