Badgers

Bovine tuberculosis (bovine TB) is a highly infectious disease of cattle that significantly impacts thousands of farms annually.

The spread of bovine TB is primarily through cattle to cattle transmission, with animals spreading the disease mainly through coughing and sneezing, thus releasing bacteria into the air that are then inhaled by other animals in close contact. This disease also spreads from infected cows to their offspring during suckling.

Since the mid-1980s, the incidence of bovine TB in cattle has increased substantially, creating an economic burden on the taxpayer, as infected cattle must be culled and compensation paid to farmers.

We recognise that bovine TB is a complex and costly disease that causes substantial hardship to the farming community and that there is a need to find the right mechanisms to control it. However, we believe the killing of healthy badgers is not acceptable or proportionate in addressing the low level of risk associated with transmission of this disease by badgers, which are a protected and native species.

Hundreds of thousands of badgers have been killed in England and the Republic of Ireland over recent years during badger culls, but with minimal impact on bovine TB levels in cattle.  We believe that the main focus for reducing bovine TB in cattle should be through effectively dealing with the primary factors in transmission, such as cattle movements, improved cattle testing and biosecurity improvements on farms, rather than adopting a widespread badger cull.

While we dispute the level of risk of infection of cattle from badgers, we recognise that badgers can be carriers of bovine TB.  In terms of any wildlife intervention plans by government, our clear preference is that badger vaccination should be the main approach adopted to control bovine TB in the badger population. However, if wildlife intervention is proposed by government to be part of the strategy, we could support a combination of the ‘Test–Vaccinate–Remove’ (TVR) approach combined with wider badger vaccination, in a limited range of circumstances once all other measures have been implemented.  We believe this to be a more measured and proportionate response as well as a more ethical approach (where only TB positive badgers are euthanized), and has been shown by DAERA’s own research project to be effective.

We would also like to see legislation introduced urgently to allow laypersons to be trained in badger vaccination, as is the case in England and Wales. 

TVR involves trapping badgers in cages and testing them for bovine TB in the field through a blood test. Any badgers that test negative are vaccinated and released, and any that test positive with tuberculosis are humanely euthanized by injection and therefore ‘removed’. from the environment.

Research commissioned by DAERA and carried out by the Agri-food and Biosciences Institute showed that TVR is a viable alternative to an non-selective badger cull.