Newsletter
Summer 2020
Dear Recipients: If you find our email alerts going to your junk
folder, please add the biwfc@botstiber.org account to your contact list.
PZP-22 Webinar on August 18
The BIWFC will host a free webinar titled " PZP-22: 
Multi-Year Reversible Contraception for Wild Horses and Deer" on Tuesday, August 18 at 1pm (EDT) featuring John Turner, Jr., Professor at the University of Toledo College of Medicine, and Allen Rutberg, BIWFC Advisory Board Member and Director of the Center for Animals and Public Policy at Tufts University. The presentation will address the development, assessment and application of the PZP-22 controlled-release vaccine
as a management tool, with a focus on wild horses
and deer.
Register here to attend the webinar.
Previous Webinars Now Available
Click here to watch the most recent webinar presented by BIWFC Grantee Hilari French, Associate Professor of Theriogenology at Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine titled "An Update on Native and Recombinant Zona Pellucida Immunocontraceptives in Donkeys in the Caribbean."
9th International Conference on
Wildlife Fertility Control
BIWFC Video Series
The BIWFC is pleased to announce a new addition to its Video Series.  “Fertility Control Projects for Boar, Cattle, and Grey Squirrels” featuring Giovanna Massei, BIWFC Advisory Board Member and Senior Ecologist for the National Wildlife Management Centre (NWMC) in the United Kingdom, is now available online .
Podcast Features
The BIWFC Science and Policy Director Stephanie Boyles Griffin is scheduled to participate in the "Projects for Wildlife" Podcast on August 11, 2020. This podcast's mission is to spotlight conservation leaders and advance projects that benefit wildlife and their habitat.
Fertility Control Fact Sheets
Downloadable fact sheets containing information on various fertility control agents are accessible on the BIWFC website. Recently added is a fact sheet explaining OvoControl and one about PZP-22 .
Support for Public Policy & Educational Projects
The BIWFC seeks public policy research projects that advance the knowledge, acceptance and implementation of wildlife fertility control as a method of human-wildlife conflict mitigation. The BIWFC goal is to support projects that will help the public and policy makers understand and evaluate existing policies on wildlife fertility control. Potential projects include: seminars, human dimension studies, and documentaries. More information can be found online .
IMPORTANT DATES
The Wildlife Society 27th Annual Conference, Sept. 27- Oct. 1, 2020
The BIWFC will sponsor a symposium titled " Fertility Control to Mitigate Human-Wildlife Conflicts " at The Wildlife Society 27th Annual Conference . Our virtual symposium is scheduled for Wednesday, September 30, 2020 and will include presentations from Douglas Eckery, the Assistant Director of USDA's national Wildlife Research Centre (NWRC), Dr. Paul Griffin, Research Coordinator for the Bureau of Land Management Wild Horse & Burro Program, Dr. Lyn Hinds, with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation in Australia, Dr. Dan Salkeld, of Colorado State University, and Dr. Anthony DeNicola, of White Buffalo, Inc.
International Conference on Human-Wildlife Conflict and Coexistence, Spring 2021
The BIWFC will attend and present at the International Conference on Human-Wildlife Conflict and Coexistence h eld in Oxford, UK. Giovanna Massei, BIWFC Advisory Board Member, will present on " The Other Side of Human-Wildlife Conflicts: A Global Perspective on Fertility Control to Manage Overabundant Wildlife ."
IN THE NEWS
BLM Wild Horse & Burro Program, Fertility Control and Adoptions
According to JAVMA News , the Bureau of Land Management's Wild Horse and Burro Program adopted out a record high number of wild horses and burros, saving taxpayers $170 million. Alo ng with adoptions, fertility control is being implemented. Researchers with BLM and the National Wildlife Research Center of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service are in the early stages of testing a vaccine which contains an oocyte growth factor.
Drop in Staten Island Deer Population
Pigeon Fertility Control in Vancouver
ABC7 reported that a new study done by the city parks department found a 24% drop in deer population since January 2017. The study also found an "84% decrease in births since the program began."
Originally a pilot project starting in January 2019, Vancouver's SkyTrain station has expanded to include eight stations in the region. After using deterrent methods to limit the pigeon population, The Daily Hive reported that TransLink is now using OvoControl to decrease the population over time.
Oak Bay Deer Project Update
As the public begins to see more tagged does with fawns, wildlife biologist Alina fisher explains that the pilot project tagged 20 does as a control group; "t he goal of the project is to find the sweet spot in terms of how many does need to be vaccinated given the effectiveness of the vaccine. "
Kangaroo Research Expanded
The Australian Capital Territory Government has expanded their kangaroo fertility control research program for another two years. According to The RiotACT , research will include a cost analysis. Ms. Claire Wimpenny, an EPSDD ecologist, stated "lethal shooting is cheaper in the short term but what we need to do is build that model up and look at that over the longer term, and we've done some preliminary work and it's looking like over a 20-year period using fertility control would be cheaper than shooting."
Click here to view more articles
STAFF
Stephanie Boyles Griffin - Science and Policy Director
Monique Principi - Managing Director
Rachel Soroka - Program Assistant
Rosalie Lombardo - Communications Officer
Lawrence Green - Outreach Coordinator
Elizabeth Leitzell - Digital Media Specialist
Carolyn Rauch - Senior Meeting Specialist
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