Bison and Highland Cattle at Cattle Country Adventure Park Print this pagePrint this page

Following a difficult testing session at this major tourist attraction in Berkeley, Gloucestershire, five bison and three Highland cattle will be slaughtered as reactors to the bTB skin test. The bison had to be tested because of the three Highland cattle testing positive.

The owner of the park, Tony Cullimore, has built up the animals at the Park and was forced to kill 63 animals during the last foot and mouth outbreak. The animals included American bison, African cows and British native breeds - all had to be wiped out because the Park was too close to infected farms in 2001. Now all 30 bison in the new herd have been tested and five have reacted positively to TB. "We lost everything in 2001 and though it's not as bad as that, it's tough to take," said Mr Cullimore. The infected bison are still at Cattle Country in isolation. A bison cow in good condition could be worth up to £1,500 and compensation will be paid but Mr Cullimore cannot move on breeding stock until he gets the all-clear.

Sadly, during the testing, one bison died after another knocked it down. Bison are like cattle which are not used to being handled and they find the process particularly stressful. Tony told us; "Most bison farmers in Britain are not able to test their animals and have either been closed down for movements, or are being threatened by DEFRA with having them shot. We have reasonable handling facilities, so have tried to conform, but every time we test there is an injury. This recent death is our second. When confined, the animals become extremely stressed, run into barriers and some tend to attack others. A bison farmer in Scotland has taken cortisol readings during testing and found that they have rocketed to incredibly high levels that could possibly cause long term damage to his animals. The British Bison Association is campaigning to either have bison exempted from testing altogether, or to test a small appropriate sample selection of a herd at times of the year when they are not either heavy in calf or bulling. It’s interesting to note that bison (and I believe other cattle) kept in zoos do not have to be tested at all. I’m sure the association would support vaccination – I could put it to them at our AGM in October".

Cattle Country Adventure Park is an important, innovative, fun and educational tourist attraction in Gloucestershire. Cattle are a vital part of this. The Park is located at Berkeley Heath Farm, Berkeley, Glos. GL13 9EW,tel 01453 810510 www.cattlecountry.co.uk

Bovine TB is currently affecting almost a quarter of cattle herds in Gloucestershire. Around 300 of the county's 1,250 herds are under movement restrictions.

Some of the information above was obtained from 'This is Gloucestershire'; a report by Ben Falconer, Chief Reporter www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/news/TB-bison-face-slaughter/article-2570518-detail/article.html Case study written 1/9/10


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