On the 5th of December, local sustainability group PACT (Penrith Action for Community Transition) welcomed Sally Heesom to talk about the Cumbria Badger Vaccination Project (CBVP). Sally delivered a lively and engaging talk to a packed audience, explaining why the group are vaccinating badgers against bovine TB and how they do it.
After working for several years with the Badger Trust in Lancashire, Sally set up the badger vaccination project in Cumbria following the 2018 badger cull in Eden. Sally was horrified by the drastic reduction in badger numbers and decided that something had to be done She got the necessary registrations and licenses from DEFRA (Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs), APHA (Animal and Plant Health Agency) and Natural England and rallied a group of volunteers who were trained to help with the operation.
The project works with landowners, farmers and other stakeholders and aims to vaccinate enough badgers in local populations to provide immunity to bovine TB, and thus stop the spread to other areas.
Sally and her team are currently vaccinating in and around the RSPB Haweswater reserve, a site that is outside of the previous cull zone and that they have been monitoring for the past three years. Badgers from the reserve are likely to move out and repopulate the neighbouring area, which is why it is important to vaccinate as many as possible before they leave. Even if a badger is infected with TB, the vaccine greatly reduces the risk of it spreading to other animals.
The CBVP group carries out badger vaccinations between June and October. First, the team surveys the site to establish the size and location of setts. They ‘pre-bait’ target areas, hiding peanuts under a boulder to encourage badgers to return there. Humane traps are then laid, but left propped open for a while, to allow the badgers to get used to them. The traps are finally set in an evening, then checked early in the morning when the badgers are vaccinated, given a health check, and are marked with dye to show they have been trapped and vaccinated. The welfare of the badgers is the highest priority, and at every step the badgers are treated as gently as possible. The traps are never set in close proximity to livestock.
Anyone interested in getting involved in the project, or badger vaccination on their land, can contact Sally Heesom at cumbriabvp@gmail.com.