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Both deer in Western Canada and badgers in England are currently subject to close scrutiny as they suffer from diseases that are of concern in the context of humans health. The very different ways the issues are being handled says more about politics than the control of the diseases. (675 words).

The deer disorder is chronic wasting disease(CWD). It has some similarities with BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy), but little is really known about it including how it is transmitted. It was, however, at one time a suspect as the source for BSE and probably for this reason it has received more attention that its economic and clinical significance deserves. The eating of BSE infected beef is widely believed, but has yet to be proven, to be the cause of vCJD (variant Creutzfeld-Jakob disease), a very rare but fatal human disease.

CWD has been found in both domestic and wild deer in western Canada and the concern is that if it became prevalent in wild deer it might be difficult to eradicate in domestic herds, particularly as the means of transmission has yet to be isolated.

So no chances were taken when a case of CWD was found in a wild mule deer in east central Alberta. Government wildlife officers planned to shoot the 75 deer known to be in the area and government plans to double or triple the number of tags available to hunters in the area as a practical and cost-effective way of culling and testing more deer for CWD.

While this was newsworthy only because it was the first case of CWD in wild deer in Alberta. In Saskatchewan this spring wildlife officials shot and killed 486 deer after a wild deer with CWD was found close to the Alberta border.

The strike against British badgers is that many of them suffer from TB (tuberculosis). They are known to transmit this disease to cattle and humans can in turn contract this disease from infected cattle. Bovine TB is certainly not the treat to human health in the UK that it was 80 years ago when the annual death toll ran into thousands. The incidence of TB, let alone resulting deaths, is rare.

This was in large measure a consequence of control measures including testing a slaughter of infected animals which until recently were successful in dramatically reducing the incidence of TB in cattle. When the incidence of TB in cattle started to rise the badger was identified as the main culprit for spreading the disease.

The implementation of culling of badgers would seem as obvious a solution as to this challenge as the slaughter of infected cattle. And as the badger is traditionally regarded as vermin in the countryside, and particularly by those raising game birds, popular support for such measures might be expected.

But the badger, as it is a relatively large, by UK standards, and readily identified wild mammal, has developed significant support amongst animal welfare advocates. The website of the National Federation of Badger Groups, a badger lobbyist, lists links to more than forty groups specifically interested in the welfare of badgers. And there is even a 1992 Protection of Badgers Act, which undoubtedly reflect a history of successful badger backing.

Needless to say little progress has been made in slowing down the increase in the incidence of bovine TB and even time consuming, decision delaying, research into control measures involving limited badger culls has been opposed. Concern over the welfare of badgers does not, it seems, extends to the 15 percent incidence of TB in their population, or more specifically that level for road killed animals.

No doubt many Brits will shake their heads over the Canadians' attempts to blast their way out of their CWD challenge. Canadians will wonder how far Brits will go in pandering to the needs of animal welfare advocates rather than getting serious about controlling bovine TB.

But even having to delay until the hunting season to get results is likely to prove quicker than waiting for road kills.

September 20, 2005