Wildlife groups opposing the badger cull, which could continue in two pilot zones of Southern England later this year, have said they are "appalled" over revelations that licensing body Natural England will allow contractors to continue using shotguns to kill badgers, despite persistence questions over the humaneness of this approach.

In response to a recent Freedom of Information request, Natural England has confirmed that the use of shotguns will continue to be permitted during this year's badger culls, despite the Independent Expert Panel reporting a lack of evidence that shotguns are a humane way to kill badgers.

The IEP said that, given the lack of evidence presented to the panel, "It follows… that shotguns should not be included in any roll-out unless monitoring, of similar rigour to that carried out in the pilot culls, provides evidence that controlled shooting with shotguns is humane and safe." However, though Defra ministers said there were "lessons to be learned" from last year's trials and pledged to implement the IEP's recommendations, they have since confirmed that there will be no independent oversight of culling, if it resumes this year.  

The British Veterinary Association, which was initially a staunch supporter of the government’s policy, but has distanced itself since last year, called on Defra "to confirm that the use of shotguns for controlled shooting will no longer be permitted given the lack of evidence on their humaneness" in April. The Association has made its future support conditional on certain criteria, in light of the IEP's findings that culling last year was inhumane and ineffective.

Last month, Defra sparked outrage when officials admitted that the government had been conducting secret laboratory tests into gassing badgers, using sett-like structures, but no live badgers. Gassing was made illegal in the early 1980s, when tests found it to be inhumane.  

In its response to the FOI request on shotguns, Natural England wrote, "The use of shotguns will continue to be permitted under licence during the Pilots and, if shotguns are used, shooting will be closely monitored by Natural England staff for compliance with the Best Practice Guidance and licence conditions."

DEFRA responded that "If shotguns are used under existing licenses, shooting will be closely monitored," but Humane Society International spokesperson and veterinarian Mark Jones warned that "Adherence to best practice guidelines in no way guarantees animal welfare and does not constitute the ‘rigour’ the IEP called for."

Reacting to the release, the HSI spokesperson said, "I fear that targeting a moving animal in the dark by spraying it with shotgun pellets will vastly increase the chance of non-lethal injuries and prolonged suffering... DEFRA continues to simply cast aside any unfavourable expert and scientific opinion in pursuit of a badger cull at any cost."

Jones added, "This news comes just days after the most recent figures from Wales showing the lowest number of cattle slaughtered due to bovine TB for a single month in March since 2008, and ever-decreasing new herd outbreaks. Whilst Wales calmly gets on with tackling this disease using sensible, science-led measures, in England DEFRA's ineffective, inhumane and unnecessary massacre of badgers is set to continue without even modest concessions to welfare."

Speaking to Farming Online, BVA President-Elect John Blackwell said, "We urge Defra to confirm that the use of shotguns for controlled shooting will no longer be permitted given the lack of evidence on their humaneness.

"We are in ongoing discussions with Defra to clarify how the Government will implement the proposals made by the Independent Expert Panel (IEP) and ensure that an independent and robust audit process is in place. We won’t be in a position to comment further until we have received a formal response on these issues and they have been considered by BVA Council at their meeting at the end of July."

Last week, as Defra introduced and proposed a series of new cattle-based measures to tackle bovine TB in England, research published in the journal PNAS suggested that even small-scale badger culling might increase rather than reduce the spread of bovine tuberculosis. The study found that social stability in badger populations mitigates against disease spread, but upheaval could destroy this state of relative balance.

The PNAS study's results are similar to earlier findings from Defra-funded research that demonstrated in 2013 that TB-positive badgers "were socially isolated from their own groups." The researchers said "The distinctive social position of infected badgers may help explain how social stability mitigates, and social perturbation increases, the spread of infection in badgers."

Figures released last week also showed new instances of bovine TB had fallen to ten year lows in England.