Massei Giovanna, Jacob Jens, Hinds Lyn A
Botstiber Institute for Wildlife Fertility Control, Department of Environment and Geography, University of York, Heslington, York, UK.
Rodent Research, Institute for Epidemiology and Pathogen Diagnostics, Julius Kühn-Institute (JKI) Federal Research Institute for Cultivated Plants, Münster, Germany.
Integr Zool. 2024 Jan;19(1):87-107. doi: 10.1111/1749-4877.12727. Epub 2023 Jun 5.
Fertility control is often heralded as a humane and effective technique for management of overabundant wildlife, including rodents. The intention is to reduce the use of lethal and inhumane methods, increase farm productivity and food security as well as reduce disease transmission, particularly of zoonoses. We developed a framework to guide researchers and stakeholders planning to assess the effectiveness of a potential contraceptive agent for a particular species. Our guidelines describe the overarching research questions which must be sequentially addressed to ensure adequate data are collected so that a contraceptive can be registered for use in broad-scale rodent management. The framework indicates that studies should be undertaken iteratively and, at times, in parallel, with initial research being conducted on (1) laboratory-based captive assessments of contraceptive effects in individuals; (2) simulation of contraceptive delivery using bait markers and/or surgical sterilization of different proportions of a field-based or enclosure population to determine how population dynamics are affected; (3) development of mathematical models which predict the outcomes of different fertility control scenarios; and (4) implementation of large-scale, replicated trials to validate contraceptive efficacy under various management-scale field situations. In some circumstances, fertility control may be most effective when integrated with other methods (e.g. some culling). Assessment of non-target effects, direct and indirect, and the environmental fate of the contraceptive must also be determined. Developing fertility control for a species is a resource-intensive commitment but will likely be less costly than the ongoing environmental and economic impacts by rodents and rodenticides in many contexts.
生育控制常常被誉为一种人道且有效的技术，用于管理包括啮齿动物在内的数量过多的野生动物。其目的是减少致命且不人道方法的使用，提高农场生产力和粮食安全，并减少疾病传播，尤其是人畜共患病的传播。我们制定了一个框架，以指导研究人员和利益相关者规划评估某种潜在避孕药对特定物种的有效性。我们的指南描述了必须依次解决的总体研究问题，以确保收集到足够的数据，从而使一种避孕药能够注册用于大规模啮齿动物管理。该框架表明，研究应迭代进行，有时也可并行开展，初步研究应包括：（1）在实验室对圈养个体进行避孕药效果评估；（2）使用诱饵标记模拟避孕药投放，和/或对野外或围栏种群中不同比例的个体进行手术绝育，以确定种群动态如何受到影响；（3）开发预测不同生育控制方案结果的数学模型；（4）开展大规模、重复试验，以验证在各种管理规模的野外情况下避孕药的功效。在某些情况下，生育控制与其他方法（如部分捕杀）相结合时可能最为有效。还必须确定避孕药的非目标效应（直接和间接）以及其环境归宿。为一个物种开发生育控制方法是一项资源密集型工作，但在许多情况下，这可能比啮齿动物和杀鼠剂持续造成的环境和经济影响成本更低。
