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| Badger cull fails to meet target in Gloucestershire | Badger cull fails to meet target in Gloucestershire |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| Fewer than half the target number of badgers were killed in this year's cull in Gloucestershire, Defra has announced. | Fewer than half the target number of badgers were killed in this year's cull in Gloucestershire, Defra has announced. |
| Figures released show 274 were culled by shooting or cage trapping in the county. The minimum target was 615. | Figures released show 274 were culled by shooting or cage trapping in the county. The minimum target was 615. |
| In Somerset, where 316 was the minimum target, 341 badgers were killed. The six-week cull ended in October. | In Somerset, where 316 was the minimum target, 341 badgers were killed. The six-week cull ended in October. |
| Defra said the level of interference by anti-cull activists had been higher in Gloucestershire than in Somerset. | Defra said the level of interference by anti-cull activists had been higher in Gloucestershire than in Somerset. |
| Last year's pilot cull target failed to meet its target in both Gloucestershire and Somerset, and an independent panel found the culls were ineffective and inhumane. | Last year's pilot cull target failed to meet its target in both Gloucestershire and Somerset, and an independent panel found the culls were ineffective and inhumane. |
| Five minutes | Five minutes |
| The findings from Defra show this year in Somerset 147 badgers were culled by controlled shooting and 194 by cage trapping. | The findings from Defra show this year in Somerset 147 badgers were culled by controlled shooting and 194 by cage trapping. |
| In Gloucestershire 166 were shot, and 108 trapped. | In Gloucestershire 166 were shot, and 108 trapped. |
| The figures show none of the shot badgers, which were observed by staff from Natural England monitoring the humaneness of the cull, took longer than five minutes to die. | The figures show none of the shot badgers, which were observed by staff from Natural England monitoring the humaneness of the cull, took longer than five minutes to die. |
| The report concludes the levels of accuracy achieved in this year's cull were "slightly, but not significantly" improved compared to 2013. | The report concludes the levels of accuracy achieved in this year's cull were "slightly, but not significantly" improved compared to 2013. |
| The pilot culls are aimed at testing how effective, humane and safe a cull can be. | The pilot culls are aimed at testing how effective, humane and safe a cull can be. |
| Cull supporters blame badgers for spreading TB to cattle. | Cull supporters blame badgers for spreading TB to cattle. |
| 'Slow start' | |
| Chief veterinary officer Nigel Gibbens admitted the cull might not lead to the hoped-for reduction of the disease in Gloucestershire. | |
| "The benefits of reducing disease in cattle over the planned four-year cull may not be realised there," he said. | |
| He said that two more scheduled pilot culls, in 2015 and 2016, should continue, and added that culling could be extended into 2017 because of the "slow start" in Gloucestershire. | |
| Peter Martin from the Badger Trust said the cull had been a "spectacular failure" in Gloucestershire. | |
| "We've been sold the idea a cull would solve part of the the problem of TB and it clearly hasn't. | |
| "I think this should be the end now of any future culling. It clearly doesn't work." |