The Future of Wildlife Contraception PZP Immunocontraceptive Vaccine
100 Years of Mismanagement by the PA Game Commission
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Deer are among the most heavily hunted species across the United States.
Pennsylvania ranks at the top of the list for numbers of deer killed during hunting season (firearms and bowhunting) across the nation. After 100 years of intensive deer hunting, Pennsylvania is experiencing a so-called deer "overpopulation problem" due to the practices of the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
At the end of the nineteenth century, there were almost no deer left in Pennsylvania.
Due to excessive hunting and clearcutting of land for timber, deer numbers had dwindled to an estimated 10,000 across the state.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission took action to increase deer numbers for trophy hunters.
Deer were imported from other states, habitat was modified to enhance deer viability, trap and transport was used to move deer from densely populated areas into low density areas, and vegetation was planted to feed deer. Within 25 years, deer numbers rebounded.
Intensive buck (trophy) hunting increases deer numbers.
Pennsylvania has become a virtual "Baby Factory" for deer. "With proportionately fewer female deer being taken from the ecosystems of Pennsylvania, the reproductive capacities
of deer herds had increased dramatically" (The Hunter's Game, Louis S. Warren, Yale University Press, 1997. ) Few Pennsylvania bucks ever live to see their second birthday and the ratio of females-to-males varies between estimates of 5-1 to 30-1 in some areas of the state. Inquirer Magazine, April 2,2000.
Hunting damages the gene pool.
This form of unnatural selection has also yielded a bizarre gene pool. Hunter's intentionally kill the strongest, male members of the herd (bucks with the largest racks) rather than natural predation on the weakest members. The strongest genetic contributors never have a chance to reproduce.
Excessive hunting decimated the major predators of deer - puma and wolves.
Leaving only a few bobcats and coyotes. Even those few remaining predators are hunted and trapped. Bobcats would later be hunted and trapped to near extinction by the 1960's, then protected for 30 years, and are now hunted and trapped again. Coyotes have been hunted consistently.
Today there is an estimated 1.4 million deer in Pennsylvania
(Inquirer Magazine, 4/2/00) due to a century of deer mis-management by the Pennsylvania Game Commission. The Pennsylvania Game Commission derives 70% of its funding from the sale of hunting licenses, fees, permits, and taxes, so it has managed deer herds to increase deer numbers.
INEFFECTIVENESS AND DANGERS OF HUNTING
After 100 years of intesive hunting the PA Game Commission has intentionally created a so called "deer overpopulation problem".
•The Killing of BOBCATS - a Natural Deer Predator
PENN STATE OUTDOOR NETWORK WHEN TIME IS RIGHT, YOUNG BUCKS MOVE ON - SOMETIMES A LONG WAY UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - When scientists from Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences and the Pennsylvania Game Commission began tracking young, male white-tailed deer last winter to learn how they disperse, the researchers weren't sure what to expect.
Hunting Increases Deer - Car Collisions
According to the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration, most car/deer collisions happen during hunting season. Pennsylvania's second largest insurance company (the nation's 12th largest insurer) - Erie Insurance - collected data in 1997 which showed:
- 50 % of all deer-car collision claims occurs during
October, November and December -primarily due to hunting. Hunters will claim that this is mating season but it's not. Deer mate in October - a time when the deer-car collision rate was 1600. The vast majority of deer-car collision claims - i.e. 4524 claims - occurred in November to December during hunting season not mating season. - The counties with the highest number of deer-car collisions were among the most heavily hunted counties based on statistics from Erie Insurance and the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
- Pennsylvania Deer-car collisions averaged 34 deer claims per day for the year. But on the first day of buck season the average was 157 and on the first day of doe season it was 160 - a five-fold increase!
- Hunting of deer predators Habitat modification including clear-cutting to enhance "edge" habitat and planting vegetation for deer.
PZP ABOUT IMMUNOCONTRACEPTIVE VACCINE
Dr. Jay Kirkpatrick, the Director of Science and Conservation Biology at ZooMontana, has worked with PZP on elephants in Africa, horses on the East Coast and all types of animals in zoos. He says the science of PZP is proven. FULL ARTICLE
"This technology has limitations, yes. It's certainly not designed for 100,000 deer in Potter County," Kirkpatrick says. "But it is another tool for doing something where deer populations aren't huntable."
PZP works when it's administered to animals like deer in a series of shots. Each deer has to get an initial shot, than a booster shortly thereafter. From that point on, they just need shots every other year or so.
The technology is about 75 to 85 percent effective in the wild, says Dr. Allen Rutberg, senior scientist with the Humane Society of the United States.
ABOUT IMMUNOCONTRACEPTIVE VACCINE
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT IMMUNOCONTRACEPTION
PZP immunocontraception studies have been 85-95 percent successful at blocking pregnancies in white-tailed deer. In addition to its proven effectiveness, the PZP vaccine can be delivered easily by darts, cannot pass into the food chain, does not affect normal mating behavior, shows no side effects and allows a return to fertility when no longer administered. The Food and Drug Administration has given the HSUS approval for use of the vaccine in wildlife studies.
Only Immunocontraception will successfully control and reduce deer numbers.
Immunocontraception is an emerging technology that offers a effective and humane means of controlling wildlife populations. Porcine zona pellucida (PZP) immunocontraceptive functions as a "vaccine against pregnancy" by eliciting antibodies against an animal's sperm-recognition protein and blocking the sperm from entering the egg.
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) along with many scientists including the vaccine's developer - Dr. Jay Kirkpatrick - have established seven deer immunocontraception field sites including locations in Connecticut, Maryland , New Jersey, New York , Ohio, Virginia, and Washington. In addition to deer, PZP immunocontraceptive has been used to help control population size in wild horses on Assateague Island, wild burros in the Virgin Island, elephants in South Africa, water buffalo in Guam, and a variety of zoo animals across the nation. PZP immunocontraception studies have been 85-95 percent successful at blocking pregnancies in white-tailed deer. In addition to its proven effectiveness, the PZP vaccine can be delivered easily by one-shot darts, cannot pass into the food chain, does not affect normal mating behavior, shows no side effects and allows a return to fertility when no longer administered. The Food and Drug Administration has given the HSUS approval for use of the vaccine in wildlife projects.
Professor Irwin K Liu
Department of Population Health & Reproduction
1114 Tupper Hall
University of California
Davis, CA 95616
Phone: 530-752-1358
Fax: 530-752-4278
E-mail: ikliu@ucdavis.edu
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP PROMOTE NON LETHAL ALTERNATIVES
DEP and U.S. Humane Society Sign Agreement to Research Use of Immunocontraceptives on Black Bears
New Panel Examines State's Bear Population Estimates
(03/22) TRENTON - Today, Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Bradley M. Campbell announced that New Jersey will work in partnership with the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) to study the use of PZP, an immunocontraceptive, as a non-lethal approach to manage the state's black bear population.
" In addition to traditional wildlife management measures, non-lethal methods need to be developed and considered as potential tools to manage
New Jersey's wildlife populations," said DEP Commissioner Bradley M. Campbell. "The rebounded black bear population in New Jersey remains a true success story. Our responsibility now is to ensure adequate habitat for black bears and safe, livable communities in and around that shared domain." See League of Animal Protection Voters
The pilot project will start with a study on black bears in captivity prior to treating animals in the wild. As part of its Memorandum of Agreement with the DEP, the HSUS will provide and administer the PZP and state wildlife biologists will participate in the examination and monitoring of the bears. If the PZP shows significant evidence that it is safe and effective in captive bears, the HSUS will acquire necessary
FDA approval before proceeding, in partnership with the DEP, with tests on the state's wild black bear population.
In addition to the immunocontraceptive study, a new independent black bear panel is conducting a month-long review of New Jersey's bear population estimates. The panel may also examine management tools and potential population control measures to recommend to the state based upon their population review.
" In our series of public meetings on the bear population, numerous citizens raised concern about the adequacy and soundness of our population estimates," Commissioner Campbell added. "This independent review panel will ensure that we have thoughtful deliberation of both the data and any management options that are considered."
Members of the independent bear panel include: Louis Berchielli, biologist, New York Department of Environmental Conservation; Dante DiPirro, Counselor and Legal Policy Advisor to the Commissioner, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection; George Howard, New Jersey Fish and Game Council; Dr. Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute - Minnesota; Dr. Allen Rutberg, biologist, Tufts University; Harry Spiker, Biologist, Maryland Department of Natural Resources; Lynda Smith, Bear Citizen Group.
Three, independent statistical experts, Dr. Michael Conroy of the University of Georgia, Dr. Gary White of Colorado State University and Dr. Edwin Green of Rutgers University, are also assisting the black bear panel in their review of DEP research and population data.
In addition, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's Division of Fish and Wildlife and the New York Department of Environmental Conservation will host the 17th Eastern Black Bear Workshop from March 2-5 at the Wyndham Gardens Hotel and Conference
Center in Mount Olive, Morris County. The semi-annual workshop brings together scientific researchers and managers from the state, federal,
provincial and university communities who are responsible for black bear management. Information about This year's workshop is entitled "Black Bears in the Backyard."
Hunting Will Not Eliminate Lyme Disease.
All mammals (except bats), 49 bird species and pets can serve as hosts for Lyme disease infected ticks. The tick's preferred host is the white footed mouse, not deer. The American Lyme Disease Foundation has stated that it does not recommend killing deer as a way to control Lyme Disease. Killing deer may increase the amount of food and cover available for mice, birds and other hosts, which in turn will boost their numbers and escalate the spread of the disease. If hunting is an effective means of controlling Lyme disease, then Pennsylvania -one of our nation's most heavily hunted states -would not be among the four states with the highest incidence of Lyme. Hunting will not eliminate Lyme disease. All mammals (except bats), 49 bird species and pets can serve as hosts for Lyme disease infected ticks. The tick's preferred host is the white footed mouse, not deer. The American Lyme Disease Foundation has stated that it does not recommend killing deer as a way to control Lyme Disease. Killing deer may increase the amount of food and cover available for mice, birds and other hosts, which in turn will boost their numbers and escalate the spread of the disease. If hunting is an effective means of controlling Lyme disease, then Pennsylvania - one of our nation's most heavily hunted states - would not be among the four states with the highest incidence of Lyme Disease.