Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T03:38:28.571Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Welfare of badgers (Meles meles) subjected to culling: development and evaluation of a closed season

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 January 2023

R Woodroffe*
Affiliation:
Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology, University of California, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB, c/o Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, 1A Page Street, London SW1P 4PQ, UK
FJ Bourne
Affiliation:
Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB, c/o Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, 1A Page Street, London SW1P 4PQ, UK
CL Cheeseman
Affiliation:
Central Science Laboratory, Sand Hutton, York YO41 1LZ, UK
DR Cox
Affiliation:
Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB, c/o Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, 1A Page Street, London SW1P 4PQ, UK Nuffield College, New Road, Oxford OX1 1NF, UK
CA Donnelly
Affiliation:
Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB, c/o Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, 1A Page Street, London SW1P 4PQ, UK Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, Norfolk Place, St Mary's Campus, London W2 1PG, UK
G Gettinby
Affiliation:
Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB, c/o Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, 1A Page Street, London SW1P 4PQ, UK Department of Statistics and Modelling Science, University of Strathclyde, George Street, Glasgow G1 1XH, UK
JP McInerney
Affiliation:
Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB, c/o Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, 1A Page Street, London SW1P 4PQ, UK Agricultural Economics Unit, University of Exeter, Lafrowda House, St German's Road, Exeter EX4 6TL, UK
WI Morrison
Affiliation:
Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB, c/o Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, 1A Page Street, London SW1P 4PQ, UK Centre for Tropical Veterinary Medicine, Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush, Roslin, Midlothian EH25 9RG, UK
*
* Contact for correspondence and requests for reprints: [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

For the past 25 years, European badgers (Meles meles) have been subject to culling in Britain in attempts to limit the spread of tuberculosis (TB) to cattle. As part of a far-reaching evaluation of the effectiveness and acceptability of badger culling as a TB control measure, this paper assesses one aspect of the welfare of badger populations subjected to culling: the killing of breeding females, which risks leaving their unweaned cubs to starve in the den. To avoid this possibility, a three-month closed season was adopted, running from 1st February to 30th April, based on the best available estimates of the timing of birth and weaning in British badgers. During May 1999–2003, when a total of 4705 adult badgers were culled, field teams failed to capture 12 unweaned litters when their mothers were despatched. In 31 other cases, lactating females were culled but litters of almost-weaned cubs were also caught and despatched at the same dens, usually within a day of capture of the mother. The number of unweaned cubs missed by culling teams — estimated at approximately nine per year on average — was dramatically lower than that projected by a badger welfare lobby group. Our data suggest that the closed season is effective in reducing the suffering of unweaned cubs in badger populations subject to culling, and we recommend that this measure be maintained should badger culling form a component of any future TB control policy.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2005 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

References

Bourne, J, Donnelly, C, Cox, D, Gettinby, G, Morrison, I and Woodroffe, R 1998 Towards a Sustainable Policy to Control TB in Cattle — A Scientific Initiative. Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food: London, UK. Available at http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/tb/isg/isgrep1.htmGoogle Scholar
Bourne, J, Donnelly, C, Cox, D, Gettinby, G, Morrison, I, McInerney, J and Woodroffe, R 2000a Bovine tuberculosis: towards a future control strategy. Veterinary Record 146: 207210Google ScholarPubMed
Bourne, J, Donnelly, C, Cox, D, Gettinby, G, Morrison, I, Woodroffe, R and McInerney, J 2000b An Epidemiological Investigation into Bovine Tuberculosis. Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: London, UK. Available at http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/tb/publications/index.htmGoogle Scholar
Canivenc, R, Bonnin, M and Ribes, C 1981 Déclenchment de l'ovo-implantation par allongement de la phase sombre de la photopériode chez le Blaireau européen Meles meles L. Comptes Rendues de l'Academie de Science de Paris Série III 292: 10091013 [Title translation: Early implantation induced by experimental lengthening of the dark phase of photoperiod in the European badger Meles meles L]Google Scholar
Creel, SR, Monfort, SL, Wildt, DE and Waser, PM 1991 Spontaneous lactation is an adaptive result of pseudopregnancy Nature 351: 660662CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dumartin, B, Ribes, C, Souloumiac, J, Charron, G and Canivenc, R 1989 Determination experimentale de la croissance foetale chez le blaireau européen Meles meles L. Mammalia 53: 279285 [Title translation: Experimental determination of foetal growth rate in the European badger Meles meles L]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ewbank, R 2003 Second Independent Audit on the Humaneness of Badger Despatch. Product code PB 8253. Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: London, UK. Available at http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/tb/publications/index.htmGoogle Scholar
Kirkwood, JK 2000 Humaneness of MAFF's Badger Despatch Procedures. Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food: London, UK. Available at http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/tb/publications/auditor/report.htmGoogle Scholar
Krebs, JR, Anderson, R, Clutton-Brock, T, Morrison, I, Young, D, Donnelly, C, Frost, S and Woodroffe, R 1997 Bovine Tuberculosis in Cattle and Badgers — An Independent Scientific Review. Her Majesty's Stationery Office: London, UKGoogle Scholar
Kruuk, H 1989 The Social Badger. Oxford University Press: Oxford, UKGoogle Scholar
Meteorological Office 2003 UK Climate and Weather Statistics. Met Office: Exeter, UK. Available at http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/ukGoogle Scholar
National Federation of Badger Groups 1999 Badgers and Bovine Tuberculosis. Submission to the House of Commons Agriculture Committee. National Federation of Badger Groups: London, UK. Available at http://www.badgers.org.uk/nfbg/tbGoogle Scholar
Neal, E and Cheeseman, C 1996 Badgers. Poyser: London, UKGoogle Scholar
Neal, EG and Harrison, RJ 1958 Reproduction in the European badger (Meles meles L.). Transactions of the Zoological Society of London 29: 67131CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Page, RJC, Ross, J and Langton, SD 1994 Seasonality of reproduction in the European badger Meles meles in south-west England. Journal of Zoology 233: 6991CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, GC, Cheeseman, CL and Clifton-Hadley, RS 1997 Modelling the control of bovine tuberculosis in badgers in England: culling and the release of lactating females. Journal of Applied Ecology 34: 13751386CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tuyttens, FAM, Delahay, RJ, Macdonald, D, Cheeseman, CL, Long, B and Donnelly, CA 2000 Spatial perturbation caused by a badger (Meles meles) culling operation: implications for the function of territoriality and the control of bovine tuberculosis (Mycobacterium bovis). Journal of Animal Ecology 69: 815828CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tuyttens, FAM, Macdonald, DW, Delahay, R, Rogers, LM, Mallinson, RJ, Donnelly, CA and Newman, C 1999 Differences in trapability of European badgers Meles meles in three populations in England. Journal of Applied Ecology 36: 10511062CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woodroffe, R 1992 Factors affecting reproductive success in the European Badger, Meles meles L. PhD Thesis, University of Oxford, UKGoogle Scholar
Woodroffe, R 1993 Alloparental behaviour in the European Badger. Animal Behaviour 46: 413415CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woodroffe, R 1995 Body condition affects implantation date in the European badger, Meles meles. Journal of Zoology 236: 183188Google Scholar
Woodroffe, R and Macdonald, DW 2000 Helpers provide no detectable benefits in the European badger, Meles meles. Journal of Zoology 250: 113119Google Scholar
Woodroffe, R, Bourne, FJ, Donnelly, CA, Cox, DR, Gettinby, G, McInerney, JP and Morrison, WI 2003 Towards a sustainable policy to control TB in cattle. In: Tattersall, F and Manley, W (eds) Conservation and Conflict: Mammals and Farming in Britain. Linnean Society: London, UKGoogle Scholar