Registration of wildlife contraceptives in the United States of America, with OvoControl and GonaCon immunocontraceptive vaccines as examples

Abstract

Overabundant wildlife populations have the potential to adversely affect wildlife habitats or pose risks to human health and safety through disease transmission and collisions with vehicles and aircraft. Traditional methods for reducing overabundant wildlife, such as hunting and trapping, are often restricted or infeasible in urban and suburban areas. Additional management options are needed. For the past 15 years, scientists with the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Wildlife Services’ National Wildlife Research Center have been developing and testing contraceptive agents. This research has resulted in the development of several reproductive inhibitors and has forced regulatory bodies to determine where the regulatory authority for wildlife contraceptives will reside. The regulatory authority for contraceptives for wildlife and feral animals has recently been moved from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The first contraceptive registered by the EPA since this move was OvoControl-G for reducing the hatchability of Canada goose eggs. OvoControl was registered in 2005 by Innolytics, LLC working in cooperation with the National Wildlife Research Center. A similar product, OvoControl-P, was registered in 2007 as a contraceptive technique for pigeons. Another product developed by the National Wildlife Research Center, GonaCon immunocontraceptive vaccine, is in the registration process for managing white-tailed deer populations. This manuscript will describe the products that have been and are currently undergoing registration as contraceptives in the United States of America, and the data required for those products.