THEORY AND PRACTICE OF IMMUNOCONTRACEPTION IN WILD MAMMALS

Immunocontraception has been proposed as a technique for managing wild life populations in urban and suburban settings where traditional, let hal control methods may not be publicly acceptable. Immunocontraceptio n uses an animal's own immune response to disrupt reproductive functio n. Proteins of eggs, sperm, fertilized eggs, and reproductive hormones have variously been proposed for use in developing a vaccine for fert ility control. The most widely tested immunocontraceptive vaccine for wild species is based on developing antibodies to the zona pellucida ( ZP), which surrounds the mammalian egg cell. This vaccine has successf ully caused infertility in some individual animals, but requires multi ple treatments. Enhancement of immune response and efficiency of vacci ne delivery will be necessary before this type of management strategy can be applied to wildlife control at the population level. Contracept ive treatment may alter the health and behavior of wildlife population s and therefore must be monitored closely.