Over 250 badgers have been vaccinated against Bovine TB (bTB) in Cornwall this year, making it the most successful season to date.
New figures reveal that in total more than 800 badger vaccinations have been carried out locally in the last four years, thanks to a partnership between ZSL (The Zoological Society of London), Cornwall Wildlife Trust and several groups of trailblazing farmers across the Duchy.
Badger exiting a vaccination trap in Cornwall, Image by Tom Shelley
The Cornwall badger vaccination programme has grown as more farmers and landowners come forward to use the bTB control method as an alternative to culling. The number of vaccinations has increased year-on-year, with the exception of 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
A new area of vaccination has been started around the River Cober near Helston, adding to established vaccination programmes in Penwith and mid-Cornwall, including several Cornwall Wildlife Trust nature reserves. Badger vaccination is being carried out in a bid to reduce the spread of bTB in cattle, a disease which has had a huge impact on livestock farmers in the region.
Scientists from ZSL have carefully taken samples from most of the badgers caught to monitor bTB infection in the population over time as the vaccination work progresses. The expectation is that vaccination will reduce bTB in badger populations and have a knock-on, beneficial effect on bTB in cattle.
Badger vaccination team. Image by Tom Marshall
Rosie Woodroffe, Professor at ZSL and lead for the Cornwall Badger Project, said: “Badgers play a small but important role in the cattle bTB problem, and scientists have predicted that vaccinating them could help to eradicate bTB, when combined with controls aimed at cattle.
“As government policy pivots away from badger culling and towards badger vaccination, the on-the-ground evidence that we are gathering should help landowners across the country to decide whether to follow the lead of the pioneering farmers working with Cornwall Wildlife Trust and ZSL.”
The farmer-led mid-Cornwall project, which has been running for four years, has delivered over 200 badger vaccinations in total across an area of approximately 20 square kilometres.
Around 20 farmers in St Stephen, near St Austell, have been involved in the scheme set up by Cornwall Wildlife Trust with ZSL in 2019.
The vaccinations have definitely been a worthwhile investment for our family farmDairy farmer involved in the mid-Cornwall badger vaccination project
Emma Ead, a dairy farmer involved in the mid-Cornwall badger vaccination project, said: “I felt a lot of pressure to sign up to the cull – I didn’t know we had a choice to go down the vaccination route until a group of us got together and met with Cornwall Wildlife Trust.
“For us, this disease is like a nightmare that never ends. Fortunately, the vaccinations appear to be working and we want to continue with them. We’re particularly interested in the blood tests results, which will hopefully tell us more about the health of the badgers we have here on site. The vaccinations have definitely been a worthwhile investment for our family farm.”
Last year, badger vaccinations commenced in the Cober catchment area for the first time. 36 farms and smallholdings have taken part so far, with volunteers from Cornwall Wildlife Trust’s Wild Cober practical tasks group helping farmers to position and pre-bait traps for the ZSL team.
Cornwall Wildlife Trust works with hundreds of farmers and landowners, Image by Cornwall Wildlife Trust
Two badgers. Image by Paul Browning Photography
Vaccinating badgers in traps. Image by Tom Marshall
Stuart Coleman, farm advisor for Cornwall Wildlife Trust, said: “We were able to expand the already established badger vaccination project into the Cober catchment, thanks to the strong relationships we’ve built with many farmers and smallholders in that area.
“We’ve now got a significant cluster of holdings onboard, and ZSL are getting really good numbers of badgers vaccinated and blood-tested. All the badgers that were caught in the Cober area in the first year tested negative for bTB, which is great news and it means they now should be bTB free for life!
“This demonstrates that moving towards having localised badger populations free of bTB is a genuinely achievable goal.”
Badgers, including cubs, are vaccinated each year as part of a four-year vaccination programme. The black and white-striped animals generally live for between three and five years, meaning the number of vaccinated individuals will build up over time, leading to a healthy, new population, whilst any infected badgers will naturally die out.
ZSL vaccinators currently vaccinate badgers on 10% of Cornwall Wildlife Trust nature reserves. The Trust says it would like to continue and expand this crucial work.
Cheryl Marriott, head of conservation at Cornwall Wildlife Trust, said: “Our Christmas Badger Appeal will help us to continue vaccinating badgers on our nature reserves and extend the work to other suitable reserves, as well as facilitate badger vaccination more widely. If any new groups of farmers are interested in starting a badger vaccination programme, we’re keen to hear from you.
“It’s vital that we continue vaccinating badgers for the foreseeable future until the cattle vaccine, which is currently being tested, is ready to be rolled out.”
If you are a farmer or landowner that is interested in learning more about badger vaccination and how Cornwall Wildlife Trust can support your farm business, please visit our working with farmers and landowners page and contact Cornwall Wildlife Trust at farm.ecology.advice@cornwallwildlifetrust.org.uk
