Woodroffe, R;
Donnelly, C;
Ham, C;
Jackson, S;
Moyes, K;
Chapman, K;
Stratton, N;
(2017)
Ranging behaviour of badgers Meles meles vaccinated with Bacillus Calmette Guerin.
Journal of Applied Ecology
, 54
(3)
pp. 718-725.
10.1111/1365-2664.12837.
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Abstract
1. Because biological systems are complex, management interventions occasionally have unintended adverse consequences. For example, attempts to control bovine tuberculosis (TB) by culling badgers Meles meles have, under some circumstances, inadvertently increased cattle TB risks. Such harmful effects occur because culling profoundly alters badger movement behaviour, increasing pathogen transmission both between badgers and from badgers to cattle. 2. It has recently been suggested that another TB management tool, badger vaccination with Bacillus Calmette Guerin, might provoke similar behavioural changes and hence similar harmful effects for cattle. We therefore took advantage of an existing project, which monitored 54 GPS-collared badgers across four study sites in south-west Britain, to explore whether vaccination, or live-trapping to administer vaccine, influenced badger movement behaviour. 3. We detected no significant effects of either vaccination or trapping on badgers’ monthly home range size, nightly distance travelled, or frequency of trespassing in neighbouring territories. The estimated effect of vaccination on badger home range size (2% reduction, 95% confidence interval (CI) 18% reduction – 17% increase) was statistically non-significant, but significantly smaller than that associated with both widespread (180% increase, 95% CI 70-362% increase; p<0.001) and localised badger culling (74% increase, 95% CI 4-191% increase; p=0.038). 4. Synthesis and applications. In contrast with culling, live-trapping and vaccinating badgers did not measurably alter their movement behaviour, fuelling optimism that vaccination might contribute positively to cattle TB control. Our study illustrates how existing monitoring can be exploited to assess potentially adverse effects of wildlife management.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Ranging behaviour of badgers Meles meles vaccinated with Bacillus Calmette Guerin |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1111/1365-2664.12837 |
| Publisher version: | http://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.12837 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. |
| Keywords: | Badger Meles meles; BCG; cattle; bovine tuberculosis; disease ecology; farm ecology; perturbation; TB; vaccination; wildlife disease |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences > Genetics, Evolution and Environment |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1527401 |
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