Badgers and bovine tuberculosis: The ecological complexities of managing a wildlife disease reservoir

The control of diseases in human and livestock populations can be hampered by the existence of a reservoir of infection in wildlife. However, simplistic approaches to controlling such sources of infection by culling wildlife populations may not adequately address ecological complexities. In the UK and Ireland the badger is implicated in the spread of bovine TB to cattle and has been the subject of several culling strategies. Field studies demonstrate that culling leads to substantial social perturbation of badger populations, and can be associated with increases in the incidence of infection in cattle. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that the social perturbation associated with badger culling may have epidemiological consequences that hinder the effective control of infection in cattle. The development of sustainable strategies for the effective management of disease in wildlife populations requires careful consideration of the demographic and behavioural responses to intervention.