CONFERENCE SUMMARY Author(s): Mark D. Stetter, D.V.M., Dipl. A.C.Z.M. Source: Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine, 44(4s):S154-S154. 2013. Published By: American Association of Zoo Veterinarians DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1638/1042-7260-44.4S.154 URL: http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.1638/1042-7260-44.4S.154

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Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine 44(4S): S154, 2013 Copyright 2013 by American Association of Zoo Veterinarians

SEVENTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON FERTILITY CONTROL FOR WILDLIFE

CONFERENCE SUMMARY When we talk about wildlife population management, one thing is obvious: There is a huge need! What is less obvious is how to move forward. How can we move past several significant barriers and issues that are often less scientific and more political, socioeconomic, emotional, and logistic? This special issue of our journal brings together a wealth of information from the Seventh Annual International Conference on Wildlife Fertility Control. The conference was hosted in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, USA, in August 2012. This meeting included a wide diversity of experts from government, academia, industry, and nonprofit organizations. New fertility control tools, technologies, and scientific advancements were key areas of focus at the meeting along with various implementation strategies. The manuscripts and abstracts in this special edition demonstrate how we have creatively and thoughtfully brought forth new ideas and tools to help address these complex problems. Some of the primary areas of work in wildlife fertility control include wild horses on national lands, deer in urban areas, bison on conservation lands, elephant populations in southern Africa, and marsupials in Australia, just to highlight a few. The most common fertility control methods being used include hormonal regulation aimed at gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), immunocontraception directed toward GnRH and the ovum, and surgical sterilization. The development and federal licensing of GonaCont, a GnRH vaccine, and its use in several species shows great promise. Porcine zona pellucida (PZP) immunocontraception, federally licensed as ZonaStat-Ht for equids, continues to grow in use around the world with its greatest use in cervids, equids, and elephants. There are several new methods and applications of mechanical sterilization including chemical castration and laparoscopic vasectomy. Nicarbazin (OvaControlt) has been licensed for use in certain species of birds in the United States and has shown promise for applications in a variety of urban locations. Another orally delivered contraceptive, 4-vinylcyclohexane, is also near the application stage for rodents and this represents a major step forward. Still another advance is the potential for using fertility control for disease control in certain wildlife. Another concept, the surveillance of reproductive health in wildlife treated with contraceptives, brought new perspectives to the larger field of endeavor. As you read through the manuscripts and abstracts on these topics, you may ask yourself, as we did at the conference, ‘‘Why are the tools that have been developed not being implemented more broadly? The need has never been greater!’’ The answer is complicated but critical if we are to move forward in any significant way. As with most complex issues, the gap between the tools, which are available, and the ability for large-scale implementation is large. These are international issues, which involve a wide variety of animal species. It is unlikely that any single tool, technology, or method will work in multiple species, multiple countries, and multiple cultures. It is worth noting that the complex problems of wildlife population management are not going away. If anything, with the continued encroachment of human populations into the wilderness and with the continued elevation of the emotional attachment between humans and animals, the need for solutions will become even greater. I applaud the veterinarians, scientists, and wildlife managers who work in this difficult, but very important, area. My personal thanks to all those who work in this area and have contributed to our knowledge of wildlife population management.

Mark D. Stetter, D.V.M., Dipl. A.C.Z.M., Dean Professor of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University S154

Seventh International Conference on Fertility Control for Wildlife.

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