The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) captured and vaccinated 7,244 badgers against tuberculosis (TB) in 2022.

This is an increase of almost 10% on the previous year when 6,586 badgers were given the Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) vaccine.

The large-scale rollout of badger vaccination began in late 2019 when 1,937 animals were vaccinated. This increased to 4,698 badgers in 2020.

TB

The department of agriculture said that bovine TB is “a significant problem in the Irish cattle herd, imposing very significant hardship on Irish farm families”.

The number of TB reactor cattle increased by almost 12% in 2022 compared to 2021, although the incidence rate of herds with reactors decreased over the same period.

Provisional statistics show that for the whole year of 2022, on a 12-month rolling basis, 23,393 reactor cattle were detected, compared to 20,931 in the previous 12 months.

The role of badgers in the epidemiology of TB in the cattle herd is now incontrovertible, according to DAFM.

“A disease eradication programme necessitates that all sources of infection are addressed – this applies to both cattle and badgers,” a department spokesperson said.

The eradication programme costs around €100 million annually, with the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) estimating that farmers contribute a total of €55 million annually.

Badgers

The development and initiation of the vaccination programme has reduced, but not eliminated, the need to cull badgers.

The capture of badgers is carried out by trained operators using stopped body restraints, under the supervision of the department of agriculture.

“All captured badgers are assessed from an animal welfare perspective. Captured badgers are either killed humanely or vaccinated.

“The department expends significant resources in ensuring the consistent quality of its wildlife programme, to minimise animal welfare impacts,” a DAFM spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, the department also confirmed that it was aware of a recent incident in which a dog was briefly caught in a badger snare in Co. Donegal.

“Stopped body restraints had been placed on the farmland in question, with the permission of the land owner, as part of the work being done to address the issue of bovine tuberculosis.

“Dog owners are reminded that dogs should never be allowed by their owner to roam freely off-leash on private farmland without the permission of the landowner, particularly at this time of year when lambs and ewes are vulnerable to dog attack,” the DAFM spokesperson said.