In
biology,
culling is the process of segregating organisms from a group according to desired or undesired characteristics. In
animal breeding,
culling is the process of removing or segregating animals from a breeding stock based on specific criteria. This is done either to reinforce or exaggerate desirable characteristics, or to remove undesirable characteristics from the group. For
livestock and
wildlife,
culling often refers to the act of
killing removed animals. In
fruits and
vegetables,
culling is the sorting or segregation of fresh harvested produce into marketable lots, with the non-marketable lots being discarded or diverted into
food processing or non-food processing activities. This usually happens at collection centres located at, or close to farms.
Culling is sometimes used as a term to describe indiscriminate killing within one particular species which can be due to a range of reasons, for example,
badger culling in the United Kingdom.