SIR — During the last six weeks, our members have spent uncountable hours walking the walk along the footpaths and lanes of Somerset to register their opposition to the 2014 badger cull. As a result, we have voted with both our feet and hearts in support of our native wildlife. The Government assigned a value of nil pounds to an individual badger's life in their cost benefit analysis of the cull back in 2011. A massive mistake in terms of ecology and biodiversity of course. But our heroic team effort also shows they are also out of tune with their electorate. We have shown that the general public value badgers highly and are prepared to turn words into action. Whilst the consensus of independent scientific thinking is firmly opposed to badger culling as a meaningful way of tackling the scourge of bTB, we managed to keep the issue alive in the minds of the general public. The badger cull policy is an unparalleled onslaught on an iconic native British species and, as a result, we all welcomed the announcement that the 2014 badger cull has ended. However, it's suprising that unconfirmed reports state that the cull contractors only reached their minimum target number in the sixth and final week of the cull, since independent scientists have pointed out that the target figure was based on dubious sceintific data. No reliable population estimate of badgers was carried out before this year's cull which leaves us with many questions. Why there was such a discrepancy between the minimum (316) and maximum (785) targets? Why were the numbers so much less than last year's minimum and maximum targets (2,081 to 2,102)? And so much less than those in Gloucestershire (615-1091)? There's asbolutely no way that this year's cull can be deemed a success, apart from the fact that no member of the public was killed or seriously injured, and we hope this marks the end of this senseless badger cull for good. So far, just under 1,300 badgers have been killed in Somerset during the official culls of 2013 and 14 in a policy that has been labelled as crazy by one of the country's leading animal disease experts. Sadly, the Government has given an unofficial mandate to the demonisation of the species and we now see countless badgers persecuted in all sorts of inhumane ways. Our promise is that we will all remain vigilant in the weeks and months to come and report any cases of badger persecution to Avon and Somerset Police. And we sincerely hope that 2015 doesn't see the resumption of badger culling in Somerset or Gloucestershire, but if it does, we will be out and about campaigning against the badger cull once again. Amanda Barrett, Somerset Against the Badger Cull.