Effect of selective removal of badgers (Meles meles) on ranging behaviour during a ‘Test and Vaccinate or Remove’ intervention in Northern Ireland
Date
2021-05-07
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Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Abstract
The role of the Eurasian badger (Meles meles) as a wildlife host has complicated the management of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in cattle. Badger ranging behaviour has previously been found to be altered by culling of badgers and has been suggested to increase the transmission
of bTB either among badgers or between badgers and cattle. In 2014, a five-year bTB intervention research project in a 100 km2 area in Northern Ireland was initiated involving selective removal of dual path platform (DPP) VetTB (immunoassay) test positive badgers and vaccination followed by release of DPP test negative badgers (‘Test and Vaccinate or
Remove’). Home range sizes, based on position data obtained from global positioning system collared badgers, were compared between the first year of the project, where no DPP test positive badgers were removed, and follow-up years 2–4 when DPP test positive badgers were
removed. A total of 105 individual badgers were followed over 21 200 collar tracking nights. Using multivariable analyses, neither annual nor monthly home ranges differed significantly in size between years, suggesting they were not significantly altered by the bTB intervention
that was applied in the study area.
Description
Publication history: Accepted - 23 April 2021; Published online - 7 May 2021
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Keywords
Badgers, Bovine tuberculosis, homeranges, selective culling, test and vaccinate or remove
Citation
O’Hagan, M. J. H., Gordon, A. W., McCormick, C. M., Collins, S. F., Trimble, N. A., McGeown, C. F., McHugh, G. E., McBride, K. R. and Menzies, F. D. (2021) ‘Effect of selective removal of badgers (Meles meles) on ranging behaviour during a “Test and Vaccinate or Remove” intervention in Northern Ireland’, Epidemiology and Infection. Cambridge University Press (CUP), 149. doi: 10.1017/s0950268821001096.