March 2016 5 5
ENVIRONMENT
Badgers
and Cattle TB
New research shows that Irish badgers
avoid farmyards and cattle
by Donna Mullen
S
ometimesfarmersnddifcultysleepingat
nights.Random,gnawingthoughtsdriftinto
ourheadsaswedozeoff.Arebadgersprowl-
ingaroundthefarmyard?Aretheysnifng
thecattle?IsTBbeingtransmitted?
Newresearchwillallowustosleepmoreeasily.A
projectledbydistrictconservationofcerEndaMullen,
withTrinityCollegeDublin(TCD)andtheDepartmentof
Agriculture,spentthreeyearstrackingbadgersinthe
Wicklowcountryside.40badgersfromtwelvesocial
groupshadradiocollarsxedaroundtheirnecks.Then
enthuastiacNationalParksandWildlifeService(NPWS)
staffandvolunteersfromTCDplottedthe12,500move-
mentsofthebadgersastheymadetheirwaysthrough
thecountryside.
WeusuallyndTBincattleinthelungs.Theconven-
tionalwisdomstatesthatbadgerstransmitTBtocattle
viaaerosol–directbreathingclosetoacow.Abadger
maybeluredintoafarmyardbythepresenceofspilled
grain,andcomeincontactwithlivestockhousedin
sheds. But this study proved otherwise. Badgers
tendedtoavoidfarmyards–andparticularlyfarmyards
withcattle.Iftheyvisitedfarmyardsatall,theytended
tofrequentequestrian,anddisused,farmyards.But
mostbadgerskeptawayevenfromthese.Asingleindi-
vidualbadger(whichtheresearcherschristenedViolet)
seemedtolikeatriptothehorses,butmostotherbadg-
erskeptwellawayfromalllivestock,andevenwereshy
ofvisitingdisusedfarmyards.
AsecondstudyundertakenbyDeclanOMahonyin
NorthernIrelandconrmedthatbadgersavoidcattle.
DeclanworkswiththeAgri-FoodandBiosciencesInsti-
tuteinBelfast,andhisapproachwasslightlydifferent.
Heafxedproximitycollarson58cattleand11badgers
inaTBhotspotinNorthernIreland.Ifthebadgersand
cattlecamewithin2metresofeachother(enoughdis-
tancetoshareabreath),thecollarswouldemitapulse.
Thiswouldbe plottedviaGPS.In addition, motion
sensorcameraswerepositionedalloverthefarmyards
tovideoanythingwhichmoved.
Theresultswereamazing.Therewereover350,000
interactions between cattle and cattle. There were
11,774 interactions between badger and badger.
Clearly,youhangoutwithyourownspecies.Andthere
werenointeractionsbetweencattleandbadgers.Zero.
SoisTBbeingtransmittedbybadgers?Andifso,
how?Theresearcherslookedatwatertroughs.But
badgersandcattledidnotusewatertroughsconcur-
rently.Infact,badgersrarelyusedwatertroughsatall
.Sotheresearchersturnedtheirattentiontothefarm-
yards. They recorded 500,000 hours of video at
farmyards in a mammoth
undertaking, and analysed
theresults.Thevisitingani-
mals recorded mostly were
feral cats, some of which
were in poor health. Farm
catsplayanimportantrolein
rodentcontrol,butcanalso
be carriers of TB, and any
animal inpoor condition is
moresusceptibletodisease.
Miceandratswerealsoseen
oncamera,andveryrarelyan
individualbadger(perhapsa
cousinofViolets)turnedup
atamealshedforafewmin-
utes. Most other badgers
keptaway–andallbadgers
avoidedthecattlesheds.
Cattlearelarge,sometimesdangerous,andoften
scarilyfrisky.Itseemsthatthebadgershaveknown
thisallalong,andarekeepingwellawayfromthem.
Insteadofscapegoatingthebadger,weneedtoincrease
biosecuritymeasuresonourfeedsheds.Andthanks
tothishardworkandwonderfulresearch,wecansettle
downtosweetdreamsandsleepwithoutworries.Now
–didIfeedthefarmcats?
There were over
350,000 interactions
between cattle and
cattle. There were
11,774 interactions
between badger and
badger. And Zero
interactions between
cattle and badgers
Good

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