Geronimo the alpaca will die, the High Court confirmed on Wednesday, as its owner lost a final legal bid to stave off the executioners.

       The animal has tested positive for bovine tuberculosis (bTB) and is due to be slaughtered on the orders of the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

       Helen Macdonald, Geronimo’s owner, lodged a last-ditch legal challenge to save the alpaca at the High Court after the last of several recent appeals was rejected in July.

       She has insisted Geronimo is a healthy alpaca and produced two false positive results because he was double primed with tuberculin beforehand.

       Her latest legal case centred on press coverage of nine other alpacas and llamas who were culled after testing positive for bTB, but showed no trace of the disease during post-mortem examinations.

       Interim injunction denied

       Cathryn McGahey QC, for Ms Macdonald, asked the High Court for an interim injunction against the death warrant, saying the details of the other cases should have been disclosed by Defra during past hearings.

       The latest proceedings, which also included an application for a judicial review, succeed in securing Geronimo several days’ reprieve after first being lodged on Friday.

       However, on Wednesday, Mrs Justice Stacey rejected the application for an interim injunction, describing the call for further data to be disclosed as a “fishing expedition”.

       The fight goes on

       The ruling serves as a crushing blow to the hopes of Ms Macdonald for saving the animal, but on Wednesday night she vowed to continue the fight.

       Speaking from her farm in Wickwar, near Bristol, on Wednesday night, Ms Macdonald vowed she would "fight on" and said she was now in a "stand-off situation".

       She added: "It's not over. We're back to where we were a week ago."

       A statement released by the legal firm representing her, Olephant Solicitors, said: “We are deeply disappointed by the outcome of the hearing in the High Court...the claim for judicial review remains live and we are considering with our client all of her options.”

       Ned Westaway, representing Defra, told the High Court hearing that Ms Macdonald “won’t be getting a knock on the door” at her farm in Gloucestershire for at least 24 hours.

       It means Geronimo is safe until around 5pm on Thursday, and gives Ms Macdonald the opportunity to make her own arrangements for the alpaca’s death if she wishes.

       Ms McGahey had asked for Defra’s warrant to be suspended until all details about alpacas who tested positive for bTB after being double primed with tuberculin were disclosed ahead of a judicial review.

       “We want to know what the true picture is,” she told the court at a hearing on Tuesday.

       'Disingenuous way of seeking an appeal'

       Rejecting the application on Wednesday, Mrs Justice Stacey said of the amount of data being requested: "It is wide ranging and in the nature of a fishing expedition.”

       She said the farmer’s complaint about non-disclosure did not give rise to an arguable case, but was a “disingenuous and backdoor way of seeking a further route to appeal” when there was none left.

       The judge concluded there was “no prospect” of Ms Macdonald succeeding in her bid to reopen a previous ruling.

       No symptoms

       Geronimo first tested positive for bTB in 2017, shortly after it had been imported into the UK from New Zealand.

       Ms Macdonald has since waged a series of legal battles with Defra in an effort to get Geronimo re-tested, all of which have failed. Geronimo has shown no symptoms of the illness in the four years since testing positive.

       Dr Iain McGill, who has been acting as a veterinary scientific adviser to Ms Macdonald, said on Wednesday night the High Court decision was “incredible”.

       He claimed there was “no credibility whatsoever” to Defra’s assertion that the test used on Geronimo was over 99 per cent accurate, adding: “Geronimo’s diagnosis is more than unsafe. It is a miscarriage of justice.”

       Defra has defended the accuracy of the test.

       A spokesman said: “We are sympathetic to Ms Macdonald’s situation, just as we are with everyone with animals affected by this terrible disease...while nobody wants to cull infected animals, we need to do everything we can to tackle this disease to stop it spreading and to protect the livelihoods of those affected.”