The Irish Wildlife Trust has called for an end to the culling of female badgers during the breeding season, branding the practice, which it says leaves orphaned young starving to death underground, as “cruel and inhuman”.
The conservation body says badgers are an endangered species and has called for an “immediate” ban on culling lactating females until July.
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine said there was no requirement for a closed season in relation to badger culling.
The controlled removal of badgers was carried out humanely, a spokesman said. It had contributed significantly to the lowest incidence of TB in cattle in recent years, and badgers were not threatened with extinction.