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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 ,
FJ Bourne ,
CL Cheeseman ,
DR Cox ,
CA Donnelly ,
G Gettinby ,
JP McInerney  and
WI Morrison
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: rwoodroffe@ucdavis.edu
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Abstract

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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.

Keywords

animal welfarebovine tuberculosisclosed seasondelayed implantationembryonic diapauseEuropean badger
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 14 , Issue 1 , February 2005 , pp. 19 - 25
Copyright
© 2005 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

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