The role of setts in badger (Meles meles) group size, breeding success and status of TB (Mycobacterium bovis)

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between the number of occupied setts in a badger social group territory and badger group size, breeding success, and status of infection with Mycobacterium bovis (TB). The data used were from a long‐term epidemiological and ecological study of a high‐density population of badgers Meles meles in south‐west England. The number of occupied setts in a social group was significantly and positively related to the number of badgers caught in the social group, so that as a social group increases in size, badgers occupy more of the available setts. This relationship remained significant when numbers of adults, adult males and adult females were examined. The number of breeding females, number of cubs and sex ratio was not related to the number of occupied setts in a social group. It is possible that the advantages to breeding females of a larger number of setts available to breed in might be outweighed by the increased aggression found in larger groups. The TB score for prevalence and for incidence of social groups was significantly and positively related to the number of occupied setts in a social group, such that the more occupied setts there were in a territory, the higher the TB index of the group. Possibly the setts themselves contribute to the persistence of TB within social groups, or badgers infected with TB might show a difference in behaviour from uninfected badgers resulting in their increased use of outlying setts.