Environment Secretary Owen Paterson updated his fellow MPs earlier today on the outcome of the first pilot badger cull in Somerset. The cull ended on 6th October but the Somerset cull company has submitted an application to extend culling as shooters have failed to meet targets or fulfil the terms of their licenses.  

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The Gloucestershire pilot cull, which began later than Somerset, was scheduled to come to a close at the end of the week but the zone's cull company has also applied to Natural England for an extension. The licensing body is expected to grant a two to three week extension to culling activity over the next few days.

Although no official figures will be published from the Gloucestershire zone until culling has been completed, Paterson revealed on Wednesday that 850 badgers had been killed over 40 days in Somerset.

This figure represents around 40 percent of the initial targets set by Defra and the cull companies. The Defra Secretary added that, in light of a recount of badger numbers conducted "immediately prior to the start of the two pilots," which showed "that the estimated number of badgers is significantly fewer in both areas compared to last summer when the last hair-trapping was done," targets in the two cull zones had been slashed in line with new population data.

In Somerset the latest population estimates put badger numbers around 1,450 compared to 2,400 in 2012. Culling in Somerset using the previously untested 'free-shooting' methodology being trialled by Defra failed to deliver the 70 percent reduction in badger numbers Defa was aiming for. Government advisors claim that reducing badger populations by at least 70 percent and maintaining the population at this level for several years may result in a 16 percent reduction in bovine TB in the area (though the two trials will not measure the culls' effects on bTB in or around the zones).

Nevertheless, Mr Paterson said in a written statement to Parliament on Wednesday, "Current indications suggest that the pilot has been safe, humane and effective in delivering a reduction in the badger population of just under 60 per cent."  He added, "The Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO) has advised that the 60 per cent reduction this year will deliver clear disease benefits" over four years.

In Gloucestershire, the estimated population of badgers has bet cut to 2,350 from 3,400 in 2012. In 2012, trial culls initially scheduled to go ahead in late October were postponed at the eleventh hour due to massive discrepancies between population estimates gathered by cull companies and Defra scientists.

Humane Society International UK spokesperson Wendy Higgins commented on Wednesday, "It is truly shocking that the kill targets for shooters were set higher than the actual number of badgers in the cull zone, and it is only the shooters' inability to meet those targets that prevented local badger populations from being wiped out altogether. If that had happened, Britain would now be in breach of the Bern Convention."

Responding to claims that the last minute cuts to population estimates could have put local badger populations at risk of extinction, a Defra spokesperson told Farming Online, "I spoke about this to the Chief Scientist [Prof Ian Boyd], and he said that, because culling was only conducted on 70 percent of land [in cull zones], the chance of wiping out the local population would have been extremely low."

The Defra spokesperson continued, "no-one knows why there has been such a change in population. The difference between this year and last could be down to weather, availability of food or fewer female badgers breeding."

NFU responds to Paterson's statement

Responding to the Environment Secretary's statement, NFU President Peter Kendall said, "Safety and humaneness are two really important tests," but did not mention the changes to population estimates or number of animals killed. He did, however, add, "I am also pleased to hear confirmation from the government chief vet that the current cull operations in Somerset to date will deliver disease reduction as part of a four-year plan."

Mr Kendall reiterated, "Our absolute focus, and that of everyone involved, is disease control. More than 38,000 cattle were slaughtered in Great Britain in 2012 because of bovine TB. These badger cull pilots are a very important first step in what is a 25-year strategy to eradicate this terrible and infectious disease."

According to the government, an independent group will continue to monitor the badger cull and will report on its findings once the operations are completed. It will be up to this independent panel to decide whether or not the pilot culls have been successful.

For now, the contested claims of success from those leading the cull will only add to controversy that has surrounded Defra's policy. Throughout the trials insider reports suggested the numbers of animals killed had consistently been below targets and the conduct of the police was also called into question by civil rights lawyers. Lawyersexpressed concern over claims that officers were passing protestors' information to the NFU, a private body, in support of the trade group's civil injunction. 

Although Defra officials and the NFU praised cull companies for conducting a 'safe and humane cull' on Wednesday, Gloucestershire police confirmed that one marksperson's licence had been removed after it was discovered he had left 16 cartridges of live ammunition in a box on the ground.