The vaccination of badgers will have “an important role in the end game” of eliminating TB from Ireland’s cattle herd, the Department of Agriculture has said.

In its end-of-year report for 2019, the latest report available, the Department’s wildlife unit said that 6,785 badgers were culled or vaccinated in 2019.

Cull numbers

Of this number, 5,352 were culled, a reduction on 2018 when 5,614 were culled and on 2017 when 5,835 were culled.

The Department has said that since the vaccination of badgers was only expanded in September and October of 2019, it is “expected that this figure will fall considerably in 2020”.

“Vaccination of badgers will have an important role in the end game of finally eliminating TB from cattle in our country and eventually also from badgers,” the report said.

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