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Monitoring European badger (Meles meles) reproduction under evolving bovine tuberculosis management in Ireland

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Abstract

Wildlife disease management often relies on altering population abundance and density to reduce the susceptible host population. Understanding the vital rates and ecology that influence wildlife population dynamics is important for assessing the outcomes of management policies. European badgers (Meles meles) in Ireland have historically been managed for bovine tuberculosis (TB) using culling, but are now being vaccinated instead. We used data from 6847 badgers submitted for postmortem examination from 2016 to 2018 to inform population monitoring of badgers under this management change. Female reproductive status varied strongly by month, and a considerable proportion (25–40%) of females had evidence of premature cessation of lactation. Teat lengths may offer a crude guideline for rapid antemortem assessment of probable reproductive status. Body weight for males and females declined throughout the capture period, and we report reference ranges for normal male and female body weight during each month. Increasing body weight was associated with an increased odds of pregnancy (OR 2.52, 95% CI 2.20–2.93, p < 0.001). Prior capturing at the sett where a badger was captured did not affect the odds of pregnancy (OR = 0.99, 95% CI 0.96–1.03, p = 0.77) or influence litter size (β = − 0.0012, SE = 0.014, p = 0.93). Assessing changes in badger reproduction will ensure that management is adapted for a badger population likely to expand and contribute to a successful TB eradication program in Ireland.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the staff of the Irish Equine Centre pathology group for postmortem data entry and Guy McGrath of the Centre for Veterinary Epidemiology and Risk Analysis, University College Dublin, for providing capture records for the analysis.

Funding

Data collection for this study was funded by the Irish Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Laura Rosen was supported by a Morris Animal Foundation Veterinary Fellowship for Advanced Study (grant ID: D15ZO-906).

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Author notes

  1. Laura E. Rosen

    Present address: Transboundary Epidemiology Analytics, LLC, Fort Collins, CO, USA

  2. Francisco J. Olea-Popelka

    Present address: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate Degree Program in Ecology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA

    Laura E. Rosen

  2. Department of Clinical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA

    Laura E. Rosen & Francisco J. Olea-Popelka

  3. Irish Equine Centre, Johnstown, Naas, Co. Kildare, Ireland

    Ursula Fogarty

  4. Department of Agriculture, Agriculture House, Dublin 2, Ireland

    James J. O’Keeffe

  5. Centre for Veterinary Epidemiology and Risk Analysis, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland

    James J. O’Keeffe

Authors
  1. Laura E. Rosen
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  2. Ursula Fogarty
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  3. James J. O’Keeffe
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  4. Francisco J. Olea-Popelka
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Correspondence to Laura E. Rosen.

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The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval

All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed. All procedures performed in studies involving animals were in accordance with the ethical standards of Irish Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. This article does not contain any studies with human participants performed by any of the authors.

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Rosen, L.E., Fogarty, U., O’Keeffe, J.J. et al. Monitoring European badger (Meles meles) reproduction under evolving bovine tuberculosis management in Ireland. Eur J Wildl Res 65, 97 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-019-1340-0

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