The Zoological Society of London is working with the National Farmers Union (NFU) in Cornwall, England, on a three-year project to vaccinate badgers against bovine tuberculosis (TB).
The project is piloting three different vaccination approaches:
Annual vaccinations.Vaccinations every other year.Reactive vaccinations based on TB outbreaks. Professor at the Institute of Zoology Rosie Woodroffe said: “This project is farmer-led, it is led by the National Farmers Union and by local farmers who are doing all the capture of the badgers. We are helping to train them to do that.
“We’re helping to train them to become vaccinaters themselves and then we’re also sampling badgers, which is a way of evaluating how well the vaccination is working.
“What we want to do with this project is to explore the most cost-efficient way to reduce TB risk to cattle from badgers.”
A badger being released after vaccination. The vaccination programme is led by the ZSL and NFU Cornwall /ZSL.
NFU member and livestock farmer involved in the project Martin Howlett said: “We’re so pleased that we can find a way forward. The wildlife and farming have got to go together. Healthy wildlife, healthy livestock.”
Previous study
The society previously took part in a smaller scale study with farmers in another part of Cornwall. On starting that project, about 16% of the badgers were testing positive for TB and after four years of vaccination it was found that none of them tested positive.
Woodroffe said: “That showed some promising results, but it is just one small area. What we wanted to see was if we could replicate that success on a larger scale.”
By working together on the issue, Woodroffe says “farmers and wildlife people will end with a shared understanding of what the evidence is and they will know what the best approach is”.
The project has received £1.4m funding from DEFRA.
ZSL and NFU Cornwall badger vaccination programme /ZSL
The Zoological Society of London is working with the National Farmers Union (NFU) in Cornwall, England, on a three-year project to vaccinate badgers against bovine tuberculosis (TB).
The project is piloting three different vaccination approaches:
Annual vaccinations.Vaccinations every other year.Reactive vaccinations based on TB outbreaks. Professor at the Institute of Zoology Rosie Woodroffe said: “This project is farmer-led, it is led by the National Farmers Union and by local farmers who are doing all the capture of the badgers. We are helping to train them to do that.
“We’re helping to train them to become vaccinaters themselves and then we’re also sampling badgers, which is a way of evaluating how well the vaccination is working.
“What we want to do with this project is to explore the most cost-efficient way to reduce TB risk to cattle from badgers.”
A badger being released after vaccination. The vaccination programme is led by the ZSL and NFU Cornwall /ZSL.
NFU member and livestock farmer involved in the project Martin Howlett said: “We’re so pleased that we can find a way forward. The wildlife and farming have got to go together. Healthy wildlife, healthy livestock.”
Previous study
The society previously took part in a smaller scale study with farmers in another part of Cornwall. On starting that project, about 16% of the badgers were testing positive for TB and after four years of vaccination it was found that none of them tested positive.
Woodroffe said: “That showed some promising results, but it is just one small area. What we wanted to see was if we could replicate that success on a larger scale.”
By working together on the issue, Woodroffe says “farmers and wildlife people will end with a shared understanding of what the evidence is and they will know what the best approach is”.
The project has received £1.4m funding from DEFRA.
ZSL and NFU Cornwall badger vaccination programme /ZSL
SHARING OPTIONS