FERTILITY CONTROL IN COYOTES: IS IT A POTENTIAL MANAGEMENT TOOL?

Authors

Thomas J. De Liberto, USDA-APHIS-WS, National Wildlife Research Center
Eric M. Gese, USDA-APHIS-WS, National Wildlife Research CenterFollow
Frederick F. Knowlton, USDA-APHIS-WS, National Wildlife Research CenterFollow
J. Russell Mason, USDA-APHIS-WS, National Wildlife Research CenterFollow
Michael R. Conover, Utah State University, Logan, Utah
Lowell Miller, USDA-APHIS-WS, National Wildlife Research CenterFollow
Robert H. Schmidt, Utah State UniversityFollow
Michael K. Holland, Vertebrate Bio-control Cooperative Research Center, CSIRO-Division of Wildlife and Ecology

Date of this Version

1-1-1998

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Fertility control in wildlife is emerging as a potential management tool. Published research on feral horses, deer, rodents, and rabbits suggest an effective agent producing reversible infertility in these species could be developed. Furthermore, anecdotal reports suggest that infertility can be induced in a greater array of species. In this paper, the authors review methods of fertility control being studied for application in wildlife and focus on their studies designed to evaluate the effectiveness of fertility control agents in coyotes (Canis latrans). Immunocontraception using porcine zona pellucida (PZP) is currently the most promising method of fertility control in coyotes the authors have studied. This is consistent with results from other species. However, the vital question of whether any fertility control agent can reduce livestock losses due to coyote predation will require more research.