The Environmental Protection Agency’s recent decision to approve ZonaStat-D to manage deer populations was all the buzz at the 8th International Conference on Wildlife Fertility Control, held in Washington, DC, in mid-July. Approval of this immunocontraceptive vaccine is a major victory for scientists who have spent years trying to find humane and effective ways to mitigate human-wildlife conflict.
Dr. Allen Rutberg, a speaker at this year’s conference and an expert on immunocontraceptive vaccines for wildlife, is excited about what this decision means for the future of his discipline: “The EPA registration of ZonaStat-D is a huge step in moving deer contraception from research to management. For years, opponents have argued, ‘well, [contraception] is still experimental,’ as a way to postpone any serious discussion of using it for deer management. No more.”
A critical component of the EPA approval is that it allows for delivery of ZonaStat-D via dart or hand. GonaCon, another EPA-approved immunocontraception used for deer management, can only be administered by hand, making it less practical for regular use. With a treatment approved for dart delivery, Dr. Rutberg believes, “pressure will mount on the state wildlife agencies to come up with procedures for communities and land owners to follow that allow local management of deer with contraceptives.”
With more than 10 countries represented at the conference, presentations ranged from research trials on deer, horses, and donkeys to squirrels, kangaroos, wild boars, elephants, and more. The need for diverse delivery systems was a common theme throughout the presentations. For example, while dart delivery appears effective for some species, it is not a viable solution when treating squirrels. For invasive gray squirrels in the United Kingdom, an oral delivery system needs to be developed that can be administered to gray squirrels but kept away from native red squirrels. Similarly, when studying oral delivery of fertility control to wild boars in Texas, the delivery device must discriminate between boars and nontarget animals such as raccoons. The immunocontraceptive delivery systems proposed to address the myriad species are as varied as they are creative. Of course, none of that matters if we are not given the green light to move beyond the research stage and actively start using immunocontraception to control wildlife populations.
As human settlements encroach further into wild ecosystems, we will continue to see an increase in human-wildlife conflict and a greater clamor for wildlife population control (overlooking the fact that we are seeking to control their population even though we are the encroachers). Nonlethal options such as ZonaStat-D help fulfill society’s increasing desire to see wildlife humanely managed. Kudos to the EPA for taking this important step and extra praise for the researchers who work to ensure that we have nonlethal tools that allow wildlife to thrive in an increasingly overcrowded world. At AWI, our only sadness is that our good friend Dr. Jay Kirkpatrick, one of the scientists most responsible for developing and promoting immunocontraceptive vaccines, didn’t live to see this day. He passed away in December 2015. (See AWI Quarterly, spring 2016.)
The Environmental Protection Agency’s recent decision to approve ZonaStat-D to manage deer populations was all the buzz at the 8th International Conference on Wildlife Fertility Control, held in Washington, DC, in mid-July. Approval of this immunocontraceptive vaccine is a major victory for scientists who have spent years trying to find humane and effective ways to mitigate human-wildlife conflict.
Dr. Allen Rutberg, a speaker at this year’s conference and an expert on immunocontraceptive vaccines for wildlife, is excited about what this decision means for the future of his discipline: “The EPA registration of ZonaStat-D is a huge step in moving deer contraception from research to management. For years, opponents have argued, ‘well, [contraception] is still experimental,’ as a way to postpone any serious discussion of using it for deer management. No more.”
A critical component of the EPA approval is that it allows for delivery of ZonaStat-D via dart or hand. GonaCon, another EPA-approved immunocontraception used for deer management, can only be administered by hand, making it less practical for regular use. With a treatment approved for dart delivery, Dr. Rutberg believes, “pressure will mount on the state wildlife agencies to come up with procedures for communities and land owners to follow that allow local management of deer with contraceptives.”
With more than 10 countries represented at the conference, presentations ranged from research trials on deer, horses, and donkeys to squirrels, kangaroos, wild boars, elephants, and more. The need for diverse delivery systems was a common theme throughout the presentations. For example, while dart delivery appears effective for some species, it is not a viable solution when treating squirrels. For invasive gray squirrels in the United Kingdom, an oral delivery system needs to be developed that can be administered to gray squirrels but kept away from native red squirrels. Similarly, when studying oral delivery of fertility control to wild boars in Texas, the delivery device must discriminate between boars and nontarget animals such as raccoons. The immunocontraceptive delivery systems proposed to address the myriad species are as varied as they are creative. Of course, none of that matters if we are not given the green light to move beyond the research stage and actively start using immunocontraception to control wildlife populations.
As human settlements encroach further into wild ecosystems, we will continue to see an increase in human-wildlife conflict and a greater clamor for wildlife population control (overlooking the fact that we are seeking to control their population even though we are the encroachers). Nonlethal options such as ZonaStat-D help fulfill society’s increasing desire to see wildlife humanely managed. Kudos to the EPA for taking this important step and extra praise for the researchers who work to ensure that we have nonlethal tools that allow wildlife to thrive in an increasingly overcrowded world. At AWI, our only sadness is that our good friend Dr. Jay Kirkpatrick, one of the scientists most responsible for developing and promoting immunocontraceptive vaccines, didn’t live to see this day. He passed away in December 2015. (See AWI Quarterly, spring 2016.)