USDA National Wildlife Research Center Symposia
Date of this Version
October 1993
Abstract
Baits and bait delivery systems have been described for orally administering a variety of chemicals and biologicals to selected carnivores and ungulates. Development has varied from species for which bait preferences and means of distributing oral contraceptives have not yet been determined even on a limited scale (e.g., white-tailed deer) to cooperative, multicountry programs involving the annual distribution of millions of mass-produced oral rabies vaccine baits (e.g., red foxes in Europe). Much of the technical literature on the subject has appeared in sometimes obscure sources encompassing such fields as medical epidemiology, wildlife diseases, animal behavior, applied ecology, flavor chemistry, furbearer trapping techniques (lures and baits), and wildlife management. To date, there has been no unified summary of the available information for the various species, whether the objectives were the application of contraceptives, toxicants, or vaccines. Techniques employed both in the past and at present will be of interest to wildlife biologists, public health officials, and other scientists seeking to develop contraception as a management technique for wildlife.
Comments
Contraception in wildlife management. APHIS Technical Bulletin No. 1853. USDA, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Washington, D.C., USA.