First year of cull falls short despite an extension period

Defra's secretary of state Owen Paterson has confirmed in a written statement that the pilot badger cull in Somerset has failed to reach its target, despite a three-week extension.

After the Somerset cull officially ended last month, it was revealed that 850 badgers had been killed - just under 60 per cent of the population.

An extension of three weeks was granted on November 1, in order to allow further time to remove the target 70 per cent of badgers.

In a written ministerial statement, Mr Paterson said: "During this period, a further 90 badgers have been removed, giving an overall total of 940 for the first year of the four year cull.

"This represents a reduction of 65 per cent in the estimated badger population before culling began. This will deliver clear disease benefits as part of a four year cull in the area.

"Before the extension was licensed by Natural England, the advice of the chief veterinary officer was that a further increase in the number of badgers culled after the initial six week period would improve the disease control benefits achieved even further and enable them to accrue earlier.

"With the further removal of badgers seen, the extension has been successful in meeting this aim."

Mr Paterson added that "current indications suggest that the pilot has been safe and humane."

Responding to this statement, BVA president Robin Hargreaves commented: "Today our Veterinary Policy Group has discussed the issues surrounding the extensions to the licences.

"We agree with the Chief Veterinary Officer's advice that extensions in order to remove a greater number of badgers and get closer to achieving the 70 per cent rate of the Randomised Badger Culling Trials (RBCTs) are justified to improve the bovine TB disease situation and mitigate the potential impact of badger perturbation."

Culling in Gloucestershire has also been granted an extension of six weeks, after shooting in the area failed to reach its target, with only 30 per cent of the local badger population removed. A further statement from Mr Paterson is expected following this extension period.