Researchers at Queen’s University Belfast are using thermal imaging technology to observe and count badgers across NI during the night.

Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, Professor Jaimie Dick said early results confirm that badger populations are much higher than previous research findings suggested.

He explained that the last major survey of badgers, which occurred in 2007-2008, found there were around 2.5 badgers per square kilometre across NI on average.

“We are generally getting around 20 to 40 per square kilometre in the areas we have covered in Co Down and Co Antrim,” he said.

Dick said his results are “much more reliable” because, unlike all previous research, he is not depending on statistical models or assumptions about badger populations.

“I’m going out at night, turning it into day with the thermal kit, and literally counting and filming badgers in front of me while not being detected by them.

“We are not under counting or over counting. There are no big statistical assumptions. This is ground-breaking stuff,” he said.

He explained that previous surveys relied on “indirect” counting methods, such as capturing, marking and releasing badgers and then estimating population densities based on recaptures.

Another method was to count badger setts and then calculate overall badger populations by estimating how many badgers lived in each social group.

Dick said the 2007-2008 study assumed that there are around five badgers per sett on average. “Social group size can vary enormously. We are seeing up to 14 badgers per group,” he said.

High-quality

The new thermal imaging technology is being used in both handheld binoculars and airborne drones. It produces high-quality images which allows researchers to clearly identify individual badgers and observe their behaviour.

Faeces

Dick said another early finding from the research is that badgers deposit faeces across the landscape, and not just in shallow pits known as latrines.

“I’ve watched silage fields being cut and the silage taken away when I’ve known that night after night after night there’s been five or six badgers in there pooing and peeing,” he said.

The technology can also be used to locate fresh faeces from badgers, and this could complement other researchers from Queen’s who are developing new tests for TB.

“The poo and pee of a badger is warm so it’s instantly available to me in real time with the thermal binoculars. I can collect it and test it for TB or for whatever else,” Dick said.

Research shows badger vaccination won’t work

New findings that badger populations in NI are 10 times higher than previously thought means badger vaccination will not work as a TB control measure, an expert has said.

In November 2024, a key recommendation in a report by NI chief vet Brian Dooher was to use a test, vaccinate and remove (TVR) approach to wildlife intervention in TB hotspot areas.

This involves trapping badgers and testing them for TB, with positive cases culled and negative animals vaccinated for TB and then released.

However, Professor Jaimie Dick points out that the labour intense nature of TVR means it is only a viable option if the badger population in a certain area is relatively low.

Economic viability

“A hot spot area in the past was seen as having five badgers per square kilometre. We’re now routinely seeing 20 or 30 per square kilometre, so how can TVR be economically viable?” he said.

Dick also points out that other wildlife intervention options, such as a non-selective badger cull, must be based on accurate data about badger populations.

He gives the example of a cull which aims to lower a badger population by 70% in area where the old surveys wrongly suggest there are 200 badgers present.

“If there are actually 2,000 badgers there, then there will be the accusation that the badgers have been wiped out because they will have killed 200 in the first couple of nights. We have to gear up for policy based on the true densities of numbers,” Dick said.

Arguing badgers are rare is ‘nonsense’

It is “nonsense” to argue that badgers are rare in NI and should not be subject to wildlife intervention for TB control, according to Professor Jaimie Dick from Queen’s.

“Many people don’t like the idea of us showing true badger numbers because it rather undermines their position that badgers are rare and should be protected,” he said.

Dick points out that the world-renowned International Union for Conservation of Nature lists the European badger as a species of least concern.

He also takes issue with wildlife campaigners who argue that badgers should not be culled because they are protected under a 1979 international treaty known as the Bern Convention.

“It is disingenuous. There are exceptions to Bern Convention protection which are set out in article nine. Other countries in Europe have the Bern Convention and have still managed to do what we are told we can’t do,” he said.

Similarly, Dick points to local legislation which applies to NI, known as the Wildlife Order 1985, as it also allows for certain exemptions to badger protection.

That said, he is critical of the NI legislation and argues that lawmakers have been too slow at updating the order as wildlife populations have changed over the past 40 years.

“It is completely not fit for purpose. We haven’t been agile in our legislation and ability to react to circumstances. It’s outrageous,” Dick said.

Queen’s TB experts not on DAERA group

Experts from Queen’s University Belfast were not asked to be part of a steering group brought together by Agriculture Minister Andrew Muir to help set new TB policy.

The group is made up of representatives from farming, processing, veterinary and environmental bodies, and is chaired by NI chief vet Brian Dooher.

“Everyone agrees that science must drive policy. Well, there is new science out there on badger populations and testing.

“I’ve got to seriously question why it is not being acknowledged and pursued,” said Professor Jaimie Dick.

“I am not advocating for a particular action [on wildlife intervention]. I am willing to talk to everybody and anybody,” he added.

Dick described the current debate about the TB reservoir in wildlife as “polarised”, but he is hopeful that his new research “could go a long way to reduce that polarisation”.

“You will always have extremists. I just don’t see the place for them. Governments are there to make a decision based on the science and facts. Not everybody can be made happy,” he said.

Plans to widen QUB badger study

Professor Jaimie Dick and his team at Queen’s are planning to broaden their research into thermal imaging of NI badgers.

“We are going ahead with an all-of-NI badger survey. We’re trying to make sure we don’t just observe in hot spots, but we want to understand cold spots too. We want to get out there and get proper, actual densities of badgers per square kilometre and lots of other information,” he said.

Dick said his team are interested in the reproductive success of badgers, as well as how they move across the landscape and interact with the likes of livestock and farm buildings.

“The more people that come on board and offer resources, funding, or access to land, then the more we can do to address all the questions which can shape policy,” he said.