Oxfordshire Badger Group Vaccination Project 2022

Do you want to help save badgers? Your donation will make a big difference to the lives of Oxfordshire badgers.

 

Our badger vaccination project is run purely by volunteers who give up their time to help Oxfordshire’s badgers. By vaccinating badgers against bovine Tb (bTB), we offer farmers and landowners a safe, effective, and humane alternative to culling. Our project started in 2018 and has been growing steadily. In 2022 we aim to vaccinate more badgers than ever before. The work of our superbly dedicated volunteer team relies entirely on your donations and support.

 

We need to raise at least £6,000 to fund our 2022 badger vaccination season. This crowdfunding appeal will run throughout the year. We'll give regular progress updates to all our supporters.

 

What your donation can buy:

£10 – a box of 100 disposable gloves

£20 – a pack of 10 FFP3 masks

£67 – 1 dose of vaccine

£50 – 25kg sack of peanuts

£80 – a badger trap

£205 – Train a volunteer to complete the trapping course

 

Interested to learn more?

Please visit our website for more information about our badger vaccination project and our other work for Oxfordshire's badgers.

 

What our landowners and volunteers say

"Being selected as a vaccination site felt like winning the lottery !"

 

"I’m super impressed by your professionalism and all the volunteers’ dedication."

 

"I had the privilege of my first sighting of live Badgers and to see them vaccinated. Then, best of all, to watch them zoom away back through the undergrowth and into their setts, bouncing, free and protected against Bovine TB".

 

 

Why do we vaccinate badgers against bovine TB?

 

Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is a disease of cattle that can be passed to a wide range of other animals, including badgers. However, the science shows that very few badgers have bTB, even fewer are infectious and the likelihood of badgers transmitting bTB to cattle is extremely low. Despite this, we feel that vaccination is worthwhile to help our farming communities and create a healthier badger population.

 

Vaccination involves humane trapping of adult badgers and cubs overnight, vaccination and release. Vaccinating a badger population over four years builds ‘herd immunity’. The treated badger social groups will develop high resistance to the disease.

 

Badger vaccination alone is not the solution to bTB, but it does have an immediate effect with no known negative impact. Vaccination is more effective than culling in controlling and minimising disease reservoirs in badger populations. It is also very cost effective.

 

Our sponsors

We acknowledge the generous grant funding we receive toward our vaccination project from The Badger Trust Clare Hammacott and Vaccination Funds; CAF American Donor Fund and Mr Lumpy.

Thank you from Oxfordshire Badger Group

Linda Ward (Trustee & GoFundMe organiser), Debbie White (Vaccination and Rescue Coordinator) and our vaccination volunteers.