Decoupling badger and sett distributions for improved bovine tuberculosis management

Abstract

Bovine tuberculosis (bTB), a zoonotic disease caused by Mycobacterium bovis, continues to challenge eradication efforts in Ireland and the UK, partly due to the role of the European badger (Meles meles) as a wildlife reservoir. Traditional management strategies often rely on sett (burrow) locations to infer badger distribution, which implicitly assumes a correlation with abundance. This study uses data from Irelands national badger culling and vaccination programme (2019-2025) to decouple badger and sett distributions using spatial point process modelling via log-Gaussian Cox processes. By separately modelling the environmental drivers of main sett and badger distributions, and validating outputs for ecological realism with independent badger body weight data, we demonstrate that sett and badger densities are governed by distinct ecological processes. Sett densities are driven by landscape features such as elevation, slope, and proximity to forest edges, while badger densities are more influenced by recent culling history and pasture availability. Our results reveal a spatial mismatch between high-density sett areas and high-density badger areas, highlighting the need for refined metrics in wildlife-based bTB management. These findings underscore the importance of integrating independently derived wildlife distribution models into disease control policies for more sustainable and effective bTB management.