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Impact of test, vaccinate or remove protocol on home ranges and nightly movements of badgers a medium density population

Sophie H. A. Redpath, Nikki J. Marks, Fraser D. Menzies, Maria J. H. O’Hagan, Rory Wilson Orcid Logo, Sinéad Smith, Elizabeth A. Magowan, David W. McClune, Shane F. Collins, Carl M. McCormick, D. Michael Scantlebury

Scientific Reports, Volume: 13, Issue: 1

Swansea University Author: Rory Wilson Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1038/s41598-023-28620-1

Abstract

In the British Isles, the European badger (Meles meles) is thought to be the primary wildlife reservoir of bovine tuberculosis (bTB), an endemic disease in cattle. Test, vaccinate or remove (‘TVR’) of bTB test-positive badgers, has been suggested to be a potentially useful protocol to reduce bTB inc...

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Published in: Scientific Reports
ISSN: 2045-2322
Published: Springer Science and Business Media LLC 2023
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa62419
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However, the practice of removing or culling badgers is controversial both for ethical reasons and because there is no consistent observed effect on bTB levels in cattle. While removing badgers reduces population density, it may also result in disruption of their social behaviour, increase their ranging, and lead to greater intra- and inter-species bTB transmission. This effect has been recorded in high badger density areas, such as in southwest England. However, little is known about how TVR affects the behaviour and movement of badgers within a medium density population, such as those that occur in Northern Ireland (NI), which the current study aimed to examine. During 2014&#x2013;2017, badger ranging behaviours were examined prior to and during a TVR protocol in NI. Nightly distances travelled by 38 individuals were determined using Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements of animal tracks and GPS-enhanced dead-reckoned tracks. The latter was calculated using GPS, tri-axial accelerometer and tri-axial magnetometer data loggers attached to animals. Home range and core home range size were measured using 95% and 50% autocorrelated kernel density estimates, respectively, based on location fixes. TVR was not associated with measured increases in either distances travelled per night (mean&#x2009;=&#x2009;3.31&#x2009;&#xB1;&#x2009;2.64 km) or home range size (95% mean&#x2009;=&#x2009;1.56&#x2009;&#xB1;&#x2009;0.62 km2, 50% mean&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.39&#x2009;&#xB1;&#x2009;0.62 km2) over the four years of study. However, following trapping, mean distances travelled per night increased by up to 44% eight days post capture. Findings differ from those observed in higher density badger populations in England, in which badger ranging increased following culling. 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spelling 2023-02-20T16:06:05.0314421 v2 62419 2023-01-23 Impact of test, vaccinate or remove protocol on home ranges and nightly movements of badgers a medium density population 017bc6dd155098860945dc6249c4e9bc 0000-0003-3177-0177 Rory Wilson Rory Wilson true false 2023-01-23 SBI In the British Isles, the European badger (Meles meles) is thought to be the primary wildlife reservoir of bovine tuberculosis (bTB), an endemic disease in cattle. Test, vaccinate or remove (‘TVR’) of bTB test-positive badgers, has been suggested to be a potentially useful protocol to reduce bTB incidence in cattle. However, the practice of removing or culling badgers is controversial both for ethical reasons and because there is no consistent observed effect on bTB levels in cattle. While removing badgers reduces population density, it may also result in disruption of their social behaviour, increase their ranging, and lead to greater intra- and inter-species bTB transmission. This effect has been recorded in high badger density areas, such as in southwest England. However, little is known about how TVR affects the behaviour and movement of badgers within a medium density population, such as those that occur in Northern Ireland (NI), which the current study aimed to examine. During 2014–2017, badger ranging behaviours were examined prior to and during a TVR protocol in NI. Nightly distances travelled by 38 individuals were determined using Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements of animal tracks and GPS-enhanced dead-reckoned tracks. The latter was calculated using GPS, tri-axial accelerometer and tri-axial magnetometer data loggers attached to animals. Home range and core home range size were measured using 95% and 50% autocorrelated kernel density estimates, respectively, based on location fixes. TVR was not associated with measured increases in either distances travelled per night (mean = 3.31 ± 2.64 km) or home range size (95% mean = 1.56 ± 0.62 km2, 50% mean = 0.39 ± 0.62 km2) over the four years of study. However, following trapping, mean distances travelled per night increased by up to 44% eight days post capture. Findings differ from those observed in higher density badger populations in England, in which badger ranging increased following culling. Whilst we did not assess behaviours of individual badgers, possible reasons why no differences in home range size were observed include higher inherent ‘social fluidity’ in Irish populations whereby movements are less restricted by habitat saturation and/or that the numbers removed did not reach a threshold that might induce increases in ranging behaviour. Nevertheless, short-term behavioural disruption from trapping was observed, which led to significant increases in the movements of individual animals within their home range. Whether or not TVR may alter badger behaviours remains to be seen, but it would be better to utilise solutions such as oral vaccination of badgers and/or cattle as well as increased biosecurity to limit bTB transmission, which may be less likely to cause interference and thereby reduce the likelihood of bTB transmission. Journal Article Scientific Reports 13 1 Springer Science and Business Media LLC 2045-2322 14 2 2023 2023-02-14 10.1038/s41598-023-28620-1 COLLEGE NANME Biosciences COLLEGE CODE SBI Swansea University SR was funded by a Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Northern Ireland post graduate studentship awarded to NJM and DMS. 2023-02-20T16:06:05.0314421 2023-01-23T21:12:27.7757499 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences Sophie H. A. Redpath 1 Nikki J. Marks 2 Fraser D. Menzies 3 Maria J. H. O’Hagan 4 Rory Wilson 0000-0003-3177-0177 5 Sinéad Smith 6 Elizabeth A. Magowan 7 David W. McClune 8 Shane F. Collins 9 Carl M. McCormick 10 D. Michael Scantlebury 11 62419__26631__6228dad382814af79569a5403a1b91f1.pdf 62419_VoR.pdf 2023-02-20T16:04:11.4509656 Output 2389014 application/pdf Version of Record true © The Author(s) 2023. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Impact of test, vaccinate or remove protocol on home ranges and nightly movements of badgers a medium density population
spellingShingle Impact of test, vaccinate or remove protocol on home ranges and nightly movements of badgers a medium density population
Rory Wilson
title_short Impact of test, vaccinate or remove protocol on home ranges and nightly movements of badgers a medium density population
title_full Impact of test, vaccinate or remove protocol on home ranges and nightly movements of badgers a medium density population
title_fullStr Impact of test, vaccinate or remove protocol on home ranges and nightly movements of badgers a medium density population
title_full_unstemmed Impact of test, vaccinate or remove protocol on home ranges and nightly movements of badgers a medium density population
title_sort Impact of test, vaccinate or remove protocol on home ranges and nightly movements of badgers a medium density population
author_id_str_mv 017bc6dd155098860945dc6249c4e9bc
author_id_fullname_str_mv 017bc6dd155098860945dc6249c4e9bc_***_Rory Wilson
author Rory Wilson
author2 Sophie H. A. Redpath
Nikki J. Marks
Fraser D. Menzies
Maria J. H. O’Hagan
Rory Wilson
Sinéad Smith
Elizabeth A. Magowan
David W. McClune
Shane F. Collins
Carl M. McCormick
D. Michael Scantlebury
format Journal article
container_title Scientific Reports
container_volume 13
container_issue 1
publishDate 2023
institution Swansea University
issn 2045-2322
doi_str_mv 10.1038/s41598-023-28620-1
publisher Springer Science and Business Media LLC
college_str Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
department_str School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences
document_store_str 1
active_str 0
description In the British Isles, the European badger (Meles meles) is thought to be the primary wildlife reservoir of bovine tuberculosis (bTB), an endemic disease in cattle. Test, vaccinate or remove (‘TVR’) of bTB test-positive badgers, has been suggested to be a potentially useful protocol to reduce bTB incidence in cattle. However, the practice of removing or culling badgers is controversial both for ethical reasons and because there is no consistent observed effect on bTB levels in cattle. While removing badgers reduces population density, it may also result in disruption of their social behaviour, increase their ranging, and lead to greater intra- and inter-species bTB transmission. This effect has been recorded in high badger density areas, such as in southwest England. However, little is known about how TVR affects the behaviour and movement of badgers within a medium density population, such as those that occur in Northern Ireland (NI), which the current study aimed to examine. During 2014–2017, badger ranging behaviours were examined prior to and during a TVR protocol in NI. Nightly distances travelled by 38 individuals were determined using Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements of animal tracks and GPS-enhanced dead-reckoned tracks. The latter was calculated using GPS, tri-axial accelerometer and tri-axial magnetometer data loggers attached to animals. Home range and core home range size were measured using 95% and 50% autocorrelated kernel density estimates, respectively, based on location fixes. TVR was not associated with measured increases in either distances travelled per night (mean = 3.31 ± 2.64 km) or home range size (95% mean = 1.56 ± 0.62 km2, 50% mean = 0.39 ± 0.62 km2) over the four years of study. However, following trapping, mean distances travelled per night increased by up to 44% eight days post capture. Findings differ from those observed in higher density badger populations in England, in which badger ranging increased following culling. Whilst we did not assess behaviours of individual badgers, possible reasons why no differences in home range size were observed include higher inherent ‘social fluidity’ in Irish populations whereby movements are less restricted by habitat saturation and/or that the numbers removed did not reach a threshold that might induce increases in ranging behaviour. Nevertheless, short-term behavioural disruption from trapping was observed, which led to significant increases in the movements of individual animals within their home range. Whether or not TVR may alter badger behaviours remains to be seen, but it would be better to utilise solutions such as oral vaccination of badgers and/or cattle as well as increased biosecurity to limit bTB transmission, which may be less likely to cause interference and thereby reduce the likelihood of bTB transmission.
published_date 2023-02-14T04:22:01Z
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