Geronimo alpaca protesters march on Defra to save animal from being put down

  • Watch protesters gather outside Defra headquarters in London

A protest has taken place in London in support of a Gloucestershire alpaca that has been condemned to die.

Crowds of animal rights protesters gathered outside the Department of Food, Environment and Rural Affairs' (Defra) headquarters at Smith Square in Westminster.

Geronimo has twice tested positive for bovine tuberculosis (TB) and Defra has ordered him to be put down.

Protesters believe Geronimo's tests are outdated and he deserves to live despite two positive results for bovine tuberculosis Credit: PA

But his owner, Helen Macdonald, believes the tests are returning false positives.

She lost an appeal at the High Court last week but has received an outpouring of support from the public, with more than 90,000 people signing a petition calling on Boris Johnson to halt the killing.

The Prime Minister's father, Stanley Johnson, has also shown his support for Geronimo and says the animal deserves another TB test to prove its health.

The Environment Secretary, George Eustice, has defended the controversial decision to cull the Gloucestershire alpaca and believes the test are accurate.