A THIRD year of badger culling has been approved by the government despite both cull area missing their targets again.

Following missed targets in the pilot cull in 2013 independent oversight was dropped and the cull was renewed for another year despite complaints from campaign groups.

Today DEFRA released statistics showing that the cull in Gloucestershire had killed a total of 274 badgers out of the minimum of 615 they were supposed to cull, falling well short of the maximum target of 1091.

Humane Society International claimed that further culls represented rubber-stamping cruelty to animals without proper scientific evidence.

Claire Bass, executive director of Humane Society International, said: “We are extremely disappointed that once again the Chief Veterinary Officer has chosen to endorse what is widely considered within the scientific community to be a cruel and costly failure of a badger cull.

“DEFRA has not placed sufficient data in the public domain to allow independent assessment of the suffering of badgers, but the headlines are clear: many badgers will have taken up to five minutes to die, and many will have been mortally wounded and slowly bled to death underground.

“If DEFRA decides to carry on with the cull for a third year it will again be firmly placing politics above science and ethics.”

DEFRA’s previously published figures also confirmed that the previous cull came at a cost of about £5,200 per badger.

The DEFRA report published today also noted that further culls may be required in Gloucestershire due to the slower progress being made in the county, partially due to more anti-cull protesters interfering.

Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard:

Statistics from DEFRA's report.