|
  |
|
|
Badgers and the natural world
In the seventies, bovine TB was considered virtually eradicated in the UK, yet in the last few years it has made a resurgence, and livestock farmers have again been adamant that a mass murder of badgers must take place to combat the spread of TB. This opinion has not wavered despite a large-scale cull in Ireland which showed it had achieved nothing, the incidence of the disease was unaffected. Badgers do get bovine TB, and can spread it if they are roaming about farmland on which cattle graze which have it, they may even spread it to neighbouring farms although no proof exists that this is the case. This link between cattle and badgers is not disputed by anyone. But most of the actual spread of this disease is not caused by the small chance of infection from badgers but by the habit farmers have of taking cattle to market constantly, where they are put in pens which have minimal cleanliness standards and where they are breathing close to other cattle, who may be infected. Often also the housing cattle are kept in on farms is dank, damp and filthy, perfect breeding ground for disease, as the Victorian's realised when they cleaned up the housing of the poor and started eradicating human TB. For livestock farmers, this meeting up at market is a social gathering; they sell a few animals, buy a few calves or lambs, gossip about prices, the weather and whatever else concerns farmers, swap news if any. Sometimes the same animals return to the farm having not been sold, sometimes new ones are introduced. If animals were kept in clean, dry conditions, and only allowed to go from the farm where they had been raised and had spent their entire lives to the nearest slaughterhouse, there would soon be a drop in cases of TB. Badgers are not the cause but are the unwitting victims of the disease and farming, many of them dying painfully from TB without the benefit of any veterinary care. Yet a Cotswold livestock farmer concerned that he keep his herd free of disease figured out that cattle get diseases if not fed the correct nutrients including trace minerals and that this could also apply with badgers. So he started leaving mineral cake out where the badgers would find it, and the result has been that the badgers are all healthy, as also are his cattle, while being within a TB hotspot area. The healthy badgers don't get it and therefore can't spread it. And his herd stays where it is and where it has always been, and therefore doesn't bring it into the farm. Looks like this idea might better be spread around the livestock farming community rather than the constant calls for nationwide culling, which, if rumour is right, is about to be refused by the government. As a means of control, nutrient feeding of badgers would seem a much simpler and cheaper option until a vaccine is developed, than a national cull of the UK's largest and iconic mammal that would set off such an outcry that farmers would become the despised group who had to be protected.
|
http://www2.newsquest.co.uk/cirencester/news/NEWS18.html
PLEASE VISIT THE CONTRIBUTOR'S WEBSITE
No reactions yet.
Please login or sign up to rate this intel.
Please login or sign up to add a comment.
I recently listened to a show on BBC Radio 4 about the culling of badgers to slow Bovine TB, they concluded that in general the culling had now become pointless and was no longer considered an effective method of keeping the Bovine TB cases down.
The copyright for this content entitled "Badgers and the natural world" has been specified by the contributor as:
All Rights Reserved
This content may not be copied, distributed or adapted by anyone under any circumstances.
|
 |
May, 2012
2008
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2009
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2010
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2011
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2012
January, February, March, April, May
|
|
Not a member yet?
Qondio is a powerful network for making it online. If you have a website to
promote, we can help.
Sign up and get in on the action.
|
|
Welcome to Qondio! Discover the awesome power this network can deliver by going to our About page. Or you could skip straight to the Sign Up form.
|
|
