Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 3:49 pm
Obviously everyones concern is quite naturally with the human upset that the floods are causing but spare a thought for the wildlife caught up in it. I was wondering how they were coping.
Quite a few of the areas affected are designated as hot spot areas for bovine TB. Rightly or wrongly an acusing finger has been pointed at a TB infected population of badgers as being a possible reason for a resurgance in the disease within cattle. In the swathes of flooded land, the badgers have surely either been drowned or forced out, I wonder what effect if any the current circumstances might have in the future.
If I was a farmer who had a population of badgers which I thought might be responsible for TB and they were driven out by the floods then I would be quite pleased. On the other hand if I was farming in a none infected area and refugee infected animals relocated to my farm, I would not be happy at all.
The floods could either reduce the problem or make it worse by causing infected populations to spread out and in doing so spread the disease to healthy badgers.
Just a thought
Quite a few of the areas affected are designated as hot spot areas for bovine TB. Rightly or wrongly an acusing finger has been pointed at a TB infected population of badgers as being a possible reason for a resurgance in the disease within cattle. In the swathes of flooded land, the badgers have surely either been drowned or forced out, I wonder what effect if any the current circumstances might have in the future.
If I was a farmer who had a population of badgers which I thought might be responsible for TB and they were driven out by the floods then I would be quite pleased. On the other hand if I was farming in a none infected area and refugee infected animals relocated to my farm, I would not be happy at all.
The floods could either reduce the problem or make it worse by causing infected populations to spread out and in doing so spread the disease to healthy badgers.
Just a thought