The latest results from a long-running survey of roadkill badgers in NI has found 20% of carcases returned a positive test result for bovine TB.

In 2025, DAERA tested 382 dead badgers across NI and 75 of these were subsequently confirmed as TB positive.

The animal incidence rate of 20% for 2025 compares to rates of 21% in the previous two years, although it is down from a positive rate of 23% seen in 2023.

Prior to that, TB rates in roadkill badgers in NI were typically in the high teens, with the lowest positive rate seen in 2020 when it reached 14%.

A notable change in last year’s figures is the number of roadkill badgers that were reported to DAERA, but were not tested as part of the project.

In total, the public notified DAERA of 1,046 dead badgers in 2025 but only 37% of these were subsequently tested for TB.

In previous years, over 90% of reported badgers were tested, although the amount of roadkill reported tended to be much lower.

For example, in 2024, there were 465 badgers reported and 420 of these carcases were tested by DAERA.

On enquiry, a department spokesperson said some roadkill badgers which are collected and delivered to the laboratory can be deemed to be unsuitable for testing.

“This why there will be a disparity between those collected and those tested,” the spokesperson told the Irish Farmers Journal.

On top of that, the spokesperson said there are “a variety of reasons” why not every badger that is reported will be collected by DAERA.

This includes a driver not being available, the badger deemed to be in an unfit condition for testing, the driver not being able to locate the badger, and the badger being in a place where collection is unsafe.