Bait‐marking is a widely used technique for determining the territorial configuration of social groups of the European Badger (Meles meles). Applications include ecological research and applied wildlife management problems. Bait laced with indigestible plastic pellets is fed to Badger social groups, and the markers are identified in subsequent defecations. Feeding a unique colour and/or shape of pellet to each social group allows the origin of droppings to be assigned. This method is particularly suited to Badgers because they mark their territorial boundaries with communal latrines. In this paper the technique is described in detail for the first time in the scientific literature. Data from sequential visits to latrines during the survey period showed significant short‐term variation in the number of marked droppings counted at individual latrines. This suggests that counting marked droppings may be of limited value in quantifying defecation rates and latrine use. However, counts of droppings at latrines could be useful if repeated over time and/or grouped into broad categories. Bait marking does provide reliable data for the estimation of territorial boundaries between Badger groups, although it is labour intensive and time‐consuming, with the best results obtained by experienced fieldworkers.
Estimating the size of badger populations at a local scale using direct observation is difficult because of their nocturnal and elusive lifestyle. Methods based on live-trapping can provide robust estimates of badger numbers, but are very labour-intensive and expensive. The development of alternative methods to predict badger numbers accurately would provide valuable tools for research and management. Badger setts are distinct structures, which exhibit various signs of activity. The physical appearance of setts has been used in the past as a crude guide to the number of badgers likely to be trapped. In this study, an objective system for quantifying levels of activity at badger setts was developed and related to the number of trapped badgers. Several types of activity were positively associated with badger numbers, although these associations varied seasonally. Furthermore, all individual activity scores, summary indices and combinations of activity types were poor predictors of the number of badgers trapped. This is probably because variations in environmental conditions and badger behaviour confound the relationship between activity and badger numbers.
Significance and Impact of the Study: Air sampling, combined with laboratory testing, has been proposed as a method to detect the presence of TB-infected badgers within their sett without the need to trap them. This work demonstrates that using a combination of a commercially available air sampling device and subsequent culture or real-time PCR, it was not possible to detect M. bovis in infected badgers or their environment.
AbstractEnvironmental air sampling was evaluated as a method to detect the presence of M. bovis in the vicinity of infected badgers and their setts. Airborne particles were collected on gelatine filters using a commercially available air sampling instrument and tested for the presence of M. bovis using bacteriological culture and real-time PCR. The sensitivity of bacteriological culture was broadly similar to that of real-time PCR when testing samples artificially spiked with M. bovis. Sampling was undertaken from directly under the muzzles of badgers which had been experimentally infected with M. bovis (37 samples), within enclosures housing the experimentally infected animals (50 samples), and in the vicinity of setts with resident infected wild badgers (52 samples). The methods employed did not detect M. bovis from either infected badgers or artificial or natural setts known to contain infected animals. However, samples taken at four of the six natural setts were positive for Mycobacterium gordonae.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.