Badgers Essay

607 Words2 Pages

. Conclusions
Badgers are a highly vulnerable species and are implicated within the spread of TB. Their ecology makes them an easy mammalian vector species for the transmission of disease, e.g. Bovine tuberculosis. Considering that a national TB eradication program was first initiated in 1954 and remains a problem today shows that removal or culling methods have yet to be proven successful. Many studies conclude that widespread badger removal is not a viable strategy for a long-term control of tuberculosis in Irish cattle population, and trials for vaccinating badgers should be investigated further (Griffin, J. M., et al., 2005).The culls in Ireland have removed over 50% of the badger population since 2004, and data shows that the cull has decreased TB in cattle …show more content…

Badger culls in areas like New Zealand have focused on invasive species like possums which have a different ecology in comparison to badgers which are native to Britain and Ireland. It can be argued that Britain and Ireland have a moral obligation to protect the reservoirs in Badgers. Therefore no comparison can be made (Roberts, M. G., 1996).
In immediate areas surrounding localized culling, the level of TB further increased due to the perturbation effects and badgers dispersed due to the disturbance of the trials. This consequently increased the transmission of M.bovis. Proactive widespread culling yields the most benefits for the costs invested, but this has concluded to increase TB prevalence in surrounding areas, further failing to contain and eradicate the disease. Stable demographic conditions are also needed to further restrict the disease.
Throughout the research conducted, almost all studies stated that more work needs to be done in order to prove a causation effect between badgers and TB transmitted to cattle. Correlation does not

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