No easy answer to the question of badgers and TB

THE other day I had a very pleasant job to do.

I was called on to raise the Green Flag that had just been won by a national school for girls in a nearby town.

This is such a good scheme, not only because it raises environmental awareness among children but also because they take the message home and preach it to their parents. It’s run by An Taisce in this country but it operates in 36 other countries round the world. Ireland is one of the most active participants, which is something to be proud of.

There was quite a party atmosphere on the day with staff, parents, and board of management joining with the pupils, who provided music and fancy dress with a strongly green theme. And, of course, after I said my few words and raised the flag, there was the tea and sandwiches.

It was at this point that I was approached by an elderly nun who pinned me to the wall with a piercing look that was not diminished by her thick glasses. “Tell me”, she said, “what’s the real truth about badgers and TB?”

I admit my heart sank. I hate being asked questions I can’t really answer.

If you go on to the website of Badgerwatch Ireland or the Badger Trust in Britain you will end up convinced badgers do not pass TB on to cattle and the reason they are being killed is to cover up deficiencies in our animal disease eradication programmes. You may even be convinced by British evidence that culling badgers increases the risk of cattle contracting TB. And all this will be backed up by peer-reviewed scientific research.

Recently the two organisations gathered the information into a report and sent it to Mary Coughlan, Minister for Agriculture and Food. The reason they did so is that Ms Coughlan’s department is killing a lot of badgers. They’re doing this under licence from the National Parks and Wildlife Service of the Department of the Environment which is charged with the job of protecting our badgers.

Initially this scheme was confined to a test area in east Offaly. It presently extends to areas in Cork, Monaghan, Donegal and Kilkenny. The badgers are caught in snares, killed and then examined in a laboratory to see whether or not they have TB. The aim is to control badger numbers. But it is thought that the scheme will reduce our national badger population by between 25% and 30%, which is quite a lot.

LAST month Ms Coughlan gave a long and detailed response to the report from Badgerwatch Ireland and the Badger Trust. If you want to read it in full go to the Department of Agriculture’s website and type the word ‘badger’ into its internal search-engine.

She also quotes lots of impeccable scientific research. And, of course, it comes to the definite conclusion that badgers do pass TB on to cattle and that culling them is the only way to eradicate the disease. So you understand why my heart sank when the nun asked me a simple question.

I’d like to believe the arguments and the research of the conservationists because I really like badgers. I don’t dislike cows, it’s just that I prefer badgers. But if I try to be impartial I really can’t find any fault in the scientific arguments put forward by either side.

There is one glimmer of hope. Ms Coughlan’s department is collaborating with University College Dublin to develop an oral TB vaccine that could be given to badgers and would remove what she sees as the necessity to cull them. It would also result in healthier badgers. It’s not ready yet but it probably will happen eventually.

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