The independent panel of experts charged with assessing Defra's pilot badger culls, which took place in Somerset and Gloucestershire last year has found that the culls were ineffective and failed to meet humaneness criteria set by the government.  

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A report from the panel, made up of expert veterinarians, ecologists and zoologists, was due for publication earlier in the year. The delay had begun to cause concern amongst pro-culling groups. The Panel's conclusions were leaked on Friday.

Environment Secretary Owen Paterson said the panel's verdict would inform the future of the government’s culling policy, though the Defra chief also publicly expressed his intention to roll out culling to new areas this year. In January, though there had been no word from the expert panel, Natural England encouraged "Potential applicants" for cull licences to begin preparing information for the Expression of Interest (EOI) process.

Experts on the government-appointed panel found that less than half of the estimated badger populations in each cull zone were killed within the six week window initially agreed upon by the cull's architects – well below the 70 percent cull companies were aiming for. The findings are a slight revision of those published by Defra when culling ended in Somerset and Gloucestershire.

The panel also revealed that between 6 and 18 percent of badgers examined took over five minutes to die, which exceeded the government humaneness target of 5 percent, and which experts deemed to be too long. The experts stopped short of referring to the cull as 'inhumane' because they suggested that, if culling were found to be effective at reducing instance of bTB, then badgers' suffering could be justified.  

The pilot culls

The pilot culls formed a part of Defra's bovine TB strategy, but experts who worked on long-running trials under the previous government were severely critical of the government's cull proposals.

Over the course of two six week periods, and then extensions of a number of weeks in both pilot areas, contractors attempted to kill 70 percent of local badger populations by shooting free-running badgers. Due to difficulties encountered with the untested free-shooting approach, markspeople reverted to 'caged shooting' badgers during the initial six week trial period, at greater expense.

The theory behind the culls was that, by removing a large part of the badger population, the spread of TB between badgers and cattle and amongst badger populations could be greatly reduced, though experts contested this, and Defra-commissioned research found that disturbing badger populations could actually have the adverse effect. Rates of TB were not measured in either badgers or cattle during the pilot culls.

Even after the extension periods, which were not accepted for assessment by the independent panel, cull companies failed to kill their target number of badgers. The Gloucestershire cull was called off at the end of November, when 'caged shooting' was no longer an option for contractors.    

Zoological Society of London Professor Rosie Woodroffe, who worked on the Randomised Badger Culling Trials which began in the 1990s and ran for ten years told the BBC on Friday that the panel's findings "show unequivocally that the culls were not effective and that they failed to meet the humaneness criteria." She recommended the government consider other means of controlling bovine TB.

The RBCT demonstrated that, if fewer than 70 percent of badgers are killed within a short period of time, then 'perturbation' – badgers fleeing the area – risks spreading any disease around a wider area.

Although culling badgers – a protected species – has been and remains extremely controversial, Defra ministers acknowledged they had conducted desk-based research into other means of dispatching the creatures while the pilot culls were ongoing. Interest groups in the South West have been pushing for a reintroduction of gassing, a method which was criminalised as inhumane in the 1980s. An investigation in Somerset during the pilot cull last autumn uncovered a network of illegal badger gassing groups.

Even so, although NFU wouldn't comment on the independent panel's findings until its report is officially published, the union maintains that TB must be tackled 'in the wildlife reservoir'. A spokesperson said that bTB control measures resulted in the deaths of over 30,000 between January and November 2013.

A Defra spokesperson said the department would not comment on the report either until after its formal publication.

Compliance reports paint worrying picture

Also on Friday, cull opponents at Humane Society International said that a series of 'Compliance Reports' released by licensing authority Natural England's badger cull monitors following a freedom of information request give "a disturbing insight" into the trial culls.

Monitors found that, contrary to Defra's assurances at the time, badgers were frequently shot in the wrong body area, with some having to be 'finished off' with a second shot, and that biosecurity was frequently ignored, with shooters failing to wear gloves, facemasks or use disinfectant.

Mark Jones, veterinarian and executive director of HSI/UK commented on Friday, "It is deeply worrying that whilst DEFRA was publicly declaring the pilot badger culls to have been humane, badgers were… most likely suffering substantially.

"If wounding, incorrect kill shots and biosecurity breaches were recorded when the shooters were being monitored and arguably on their best behaviour, it is quite possible that even more unprofessional conduct and animal suffering could have occurred when no-one was watching. DEFRA's myth of a humane and professional cull has been exposed. It would be a travesty to allow this unjustified slaughter of badgers to continue."

The reports cover a total of 41 visits by Natural England's monitoring personnel, and two telephone assessments, carried out during the initial six week pilot cull and subsequent extensions. During this time only nine badgers were killed by 'free-shooting'. Even so, three of the nine badgers were shot incorrectly, with two being wounded, meaning they had to be chased and shot a second time. In one case five to 10 minutes elapsed between the first and second shot.

The reports represent only a snapshot of the cull – additional monitoring during the initial six week periods was conducted by the AHVLA.