Free Standard AU & NZ Shipping For All Book Orders Over $80!
Register      Login
Wildlife Research Wildlife Research Society
Ecology, management and conservation in natural and modified habitats
REVIEW

Delivering and registering species-tailored oral antifertility products: a review

Simon Humphrys A and Steven J. Lapidge A B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre, Unley, SA 5061, Australia.

B Corresponding author. Email: steven.lapidge@invasiveanimals.com

Wildlife Research 35(6) 578-585 https://doi.org/10.1071/WR07145
Submitted: 14 September 2007  Accepted: 7 August 2008   Published: 22 October 2008

Abstract

Technologies that induce infertility in wildlife are advancing rapidly. This is due largely to our increasing understanding of reproductive physiology, as well as the demand for management techniques that reduce fertility rather than increase mortality. However, transferring wildlife fertility control from the laboratory into landscape-scale utility for free-ranging animal populations will be highly dependent on products possessing oral activity and cost-effectiveness. A significant challenge to the delivery process is providing the international regulators in each jurisdiction with the most relevant data packages they need to assess new products. An essential part of any product registration for free-ranging animals will be the development of species-tailored delivery systems, especially so for non-specific antifertility actives. This review examines the current range of orally deliverable antifertility options, broadly classifies them according to overall risk compared with alternative vertebrate pesticides, outlines a species-tailoring process that reduces identified risks, and encompasses the data requirements for their registration for sale in Australasia, the USA and Europe.


References

Aitken R. J. (2006). Australian Patent Application No. 2006903307. Assignee: University of Newcastle. Title: Method for reducing the reproductive potential of a female animal. Filing date: 19 June 2006.

Asa C. S. (1997). The development of contraceptive methods for captive wildlife. In ‘Contraception in Wildlife Management’. (Ed. T. J. Kreegor.) pp 235–240. USDA-APHIS Technical Bulletin No. 1853, Washington, DC.

AZA Wildlife Contraception Center Database. http://www.stlzoo.org/downloads/CAGrecs2007revised.htm

Ball, B. A. , Sabeur, K. , Nett, T. , and Liu, I. K. (2006). Effects of a GnRH cytotoxin on reproductive function in peripubertal male dogs. Theriogenology 66, 766–774.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | PubMed | Braysher M. (1993). ‘Managing Vertebrate Pest: Principles and Strategies.’ (Bureau of Resource Sciences, Australian Government Publishing Service: Canberra.)

Busana, F. , Gigliotti, F. , and Marks, C. A. (1998). Modified M-44 ejector for the baiting of red foxes. Wildlife Research 25, 209–215.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Cowan P. , Walmsley A. , Kirk D. , Lee S. M. , and Young P. (1999). Plant-derived vaccines for possum fertility control. In ‘Advances in the Biological Control of Possums’. The Royal Society of New Zealand Miscellaneous Series 56, 24–27.

Cowan, P. E. , Grant, W. N. , and Ralston, M. (2008). Assessing the suitability of the parasitic nematode Parastrongyloides trichosuri as a vector for transmissible fertility control of brushtail possums in New Zealand – ecological and regulatory considerations. Wildlife Research 35, 573–577.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Curtis P. D. , Moen A. N. , and Richmond M. E. (1998). When should wildlife fertility control be applied? In ‘A Workshop on the Status and Future of Wildlife Fertility Control. The Wildlife Society 5th Annual Conference, Buffalo, New York, USA’. (Eds P. D. Curtis and R. J.Warren.) pp. 1–4.

Davis, S. A. , and Pech, R. P. (2002). Dependence of population response to fertility control on the survival of sterile animals and their role in regulation. Reproductive Supplement 60, 89–103.
CAS | Duckworth J. , and Cui X. (2004). Delivery systems for possum biocontrol – bacterial ghosts. Landcare Research Contract Report LC0405(046).

Eidne, K. A. , Henery, C. C. , and Aitken, R. J. (2000). Selection of peptides targeting the human sperm surface using random peptide phage display identify ligands homologous to ZP3. Biology of Reproduction 63, 1396–1402.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | PubMed | Fagerstone K. A. (2002). Wildlife fertility control. USDA National Wildlife Research Center – Staff Publications. http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ws/nwrc/is/publications.html.

Fagerstone, K. A. , Miller, L. A. , Bynum, K. S. , Eisemann, J. D. , and Yoder, C. (2006). When, where and for what wildlife species will contraception be a useful management approach? Proceedings of the Vertebrate Pest Conference 22, 45–54.
Jacobs W. W. (1992). Vertebrate pesticides no longer registered and factors contributing to loss of registration. In ‘Proceedings of the Fifteenth Vertebrate Pest Conference 1992’. pp. 142–148.

Jalava, K. , Hensel, A. , Szostak, M. , Resch, S. , and Lubitz, W. (2002). Bacterial ghosts as vaccine candidates for veterinary applications. Journal of Controlled Release 85, 17–25.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | PubMed | Johnson C. (2006). ‘Australia’s Mammal Extinctions.’ (Cambridge University Press.)

Kennelly J. J. , and Converse K. A. (1997). Surgical sterilisation: an underutilized procedure for evaluating the merits of induced sterility. In ‘Contraception in Wildlife Management’. (Ed. T. J. Kreegor.) pp. 22–28. USDA-APHIS Technical Bulletin No. 1853, Washington, DC.

Lapidge S. J. , Humphrys S. , and Dall D. (2007). Global harmonisation in the field of invasive species management product development. In ‘Proceedings of the Managing Vertebrate Invasive Species Symposium, Fort Collins, Colorado’. pp. 34–42. (US Department of Agriculture National Wildlife Research Centre.)

MacKenzie, S. M. , McLaughlin, E. A. , Perkins, H. D. , French, N. , Sutherland, T. , Jackson, R. J. , Inglis, B. , Muller, W. J. , van Leeuwin, B. H. , Robinson, A. J. , and Kerr, P. J. (2006). The immunocontraceptive effects on female rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) infected with recombinant myxoma virus expressing rabbit ZP2 and ZP3. Biology of Reproduction 74, 511–521.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | PubMed | McLeod R. (2004). ‘Counting the Cost: Impact of Invasive Animals in Australia, 2004.’ (Cooperative Research Centre for Pest Animal Control: Canberra.)

McLeod, S. R. , Saunders, G. , Twigg, L. E. , Arthur, A. D. , Ramsey, D. , and Hinds, L. A. (2007). Prospects for the future: is there a role for virally vectored immunoctraception in vertebrate pest management. Wildlife Research 34, 555–566.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | Miller L. A. , and Fagerstone K. A. (2000). Induced infertility as a wildlife management tool. In ‘Proceedings of the 19th Vertebrate Pest Conference 2000’. (Eds T. P. Salmon and A. C. Crab.) pp. 160–168.

Miller L. A. , Talwar P. G. , and Killian J. K. (2006) Contraceptive effect of a recombinant GnRH vaccine in adult female pigs. In ‘Proceedings of the 22nd Vertebrate Pest Conference’. pp. 106–109.

Nash, P. , Furcolow, C. A. , Bynum, K. S. , Yoder, C. A. , Miller, L. A. , and Johnston, J. J. (2007). 20,25-Diazacholesterol as an oral contraceptive for black-tailed prairie dog population management. Human–Wildlife Conflicts 1, 60–67.
Rodger J. C. (1999). Delivery, arguably the major challenge for possum biocontrol. In ‘Advances in the Biological Control of Possums’. The Royal Society of New Zealand Miscellaneous Series 56, 16–18.

Sabeur, K. , Ball, B. A. , Nett, T. M. , Ball, H. H. , and Liu, I. K. (2003). Effect of GnRH conjugated to pokeweed antiviral protein on reproductive function in adult male dogs. Reproduction 125, 801–806.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | PubMed | Williams C. K. , Parer I. , Coman B. J. , Burley J. , and Braysher M. L. (1995). ‘Managing Vertebrate Pests: Rabbits.’ (Bureau of Resource Sciences/CSIRO Division of Wildlife and Ecology & Australian Government Publishing Service: Canberra.)

Yang, W. H. , Wieczorck, M. , Allen, M. C. , and Nett, T. M. (2003). Cytotoxic activity of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH)–pokeweed antiviral protein conjugates in cell lines expressing GnRH receptors. Endocrinology 144, 1456–1463.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | PubMed | Yoder C. (2000). Use of 20,25 diazacholesterol, A GnRH and cRCP to inhibit reproduction in Coturnix quail. Thesis, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO.

Yoder, C. A. , Miller, L. A. , and Bynum, K. S. (2005). Comparison of nicarbazin absorption in chickens, mallards, and Canada geese. Poultry Science 84, 1491–1494.
CAS | PubMed |

Yoder, C. A. , Graham, J. K. , Miller, L. A. , Bynum, K. S. , Johnston, J. J. , and Goodall, M. J. (2006). Evaluation of nicarbazin as a potential waterfowl contraceptive using mallards as a model. Poultry Science 85, 1275–1284.
CAS | PubMed |

Yoder, C. A. , Avery, M. L. , Keacher, K. L. , and Tillman, E. A. (2007). Use of DiazaCon as a reproductive inhibitor for monk parakeets (Myiopsitta monachus). Wildlife Research 34, 8–13.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS |