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Cattle troughs and badgers - a potential route for the transmission of bovine tuberculosis
Journal
Applied
Animal Behaviour Science -
Volume
80, Issue 1 , 2 January 2003, Pages 1-8
Authors
B. T. Garnett, T. J. Roper and R. J. Delahay from the
University of Sussex and the Central Science Laboratory, Sand Hutton,
York
Abstract
Cattle feed troughs that are contaminated with badger
excreta constitute a potential transmission route for the spread of
bovine tuberculosis from badgers to cattle. In
order to investigate the maximum height to which a trough would have to be
raised to make it secure against badgers, we presented wild badgers with an
experimental trough that could be set to a range of heights. In two separate
experiments, a total of at least 12 badgers from two social groups at
Woodchester Park, Gloucestershire, South-West England managed to climb into the
trough when it was set at heights above 80cm (i.e. higher than the current
recommended safety guidelines for farmers). The maximum height to which badgers
could climb was 115cm, which would place the trough beyond the reach of
calves, young heifers and bullocks. We conclude that there is no safe height at
which troughs can be set to feed young cattle while excluding badgers. Exclusion
of badgers from cattle troughs therefore requires the development of new trough
designs.
Keywords
Badgers; Cattle; Cattle troughs; Bovine
tuberculosis; Foraging
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