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Surgical sterilization: an underutilized procedure for evaluating the merits of induced sterility

Paper 13
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Abstract

Despite more than 4 decades of effort, development of effective wildlife damage control programs based on sterilization of target species has met with limited success. This is partly due to the fact that investigators have assumed, rather than empirically tested, whether the reproductive strategies of the target populations were vulnerable to the planned treatment. Equally important, methods selected to include sterility usually involve a chemical agent that can affect sociosexual behaviors of the nuisance population. In this report, we illustrate how surgically induced sterility circumvents both problems--how the concept without the potentially confounding secondary effects of a chemical. We assessed the merits of initiating research to develop a male chemosterilant for Norway rats, red-winged blackbirds, beaver, and Canada geese by inducing sterility surgically. The infidelity of many red-winged females to their polygynous territorial male was surprising and argued against searching for a male sterilant. On the other hand, beaver and Canada goose studies confirmed previous reports that both form par-bonds and are monogamous. Both should be vulnerable to a male chemosterilant approach, and research toward this goal is justified.
Publication type Report
Publication Subtype Federal Government Series
Title Surgical sterilization: an underutilized procedure for evaluating the merits of induced sterility
Series title Paper
Series number 13
Year Published 1993
Language English
Publisher U.S. Department of Agriculture
Contributing office(s) National Wildlife Health Center
Description 8 p.
Larger Work Type Report
Larger Work Subtype Federal Government Series
Larger Work Title USDA National Wildlife Research Center Symposia: Contraception in wildlife management
First page 21
Last page 28
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