Massei Giovanna
Botstiber Institute for Wildlife Fertility Control Europe, Department of Environment and Geography, University of York, 290 Wentworth Way, Heslington, York YO10 5NG, UK.
Animals (Basel). 2023 Jan 27;13(3):428. doi: 10.3390/ani13030428.
Trends of human population growth and landscape development in Europe show that wildlife impacts are escalating. Lethal methods, traditionally employed to mitigate these impacts, are often ineffective, environmentally hazardous and face increasing public opposition. Fertility control is advocated as a humane tool to mitigate these impacts. This review describes mammalian and avian wildlife contraceptives' effect on reproduction of individuals and populations, delivery methods, potential costs and feasibility of using fertility control in European contexts. These contexts include small, isolated wildlife populations and situations in which lethal control is either illegal or socially unacceptable, such as urban settings, national parks and areas where rewilding occurs. The review highlights knowledge gaps, such as impact of fertility control on recruitment, social and spatial behaviour and on target and non-target species, provides a decision framework to assist decisions about the potential use of wildlife fertility control, and suggests eight reasons for Europe to invest in this area. Although developing and registering contraceptives in Europe will have substantial costs, these are relatively small when compared to wildlife's economic and environmental impact. Developing safe and effective contraceptives will be essential if European countries want to meet public demand for methods to promote human-wildlife coexistence.
欧洲人口增长趋势和景观发展表明，野生动物造成的影响正在不断升级。传统上用于减轻这些影响的致死方法往往无效、对环境有害且面临越来越多的公众反对。生育控制被倡导为减轻这些影响的人道工具。本综述描述了哺乳动物和鸟类野生动物避孕药对个体和种群繁殖的影响、给药方法、潜在成本以及在欧洲背景下使用生育控制的可行性。这些背景包括小型孤立的野生动物种群，以及致死控制非法或在社会上不可接受的情况，如城市环境、国家公园和正在进行野化的地区。该综述强调了知识空白，如生育控制对补充、社会和空间行为以及对目标和非目标物种的影响，提供了一个决策框架以协助有关野生动物生育控制潜在用途的决策，并提出了欧洲在这一领域投资的八个理由。尽管在欧洲开发和注册避孕药具将产生巨大成本，但与野生动物的经济和环境影响相比，这些成本相对较小。如果欧洲国家想要满足公众对促进人类与野生动物共存方法的需求，开发安全有效的避孕药具将至关重要。
