Newsletter
Spring 2020
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BIWFC Participates in Pathways Kenya 2020
The BIWFC served as a sponsor for Pathways Africa 2020: Human Dimensions of Wildlife Conference and Training at the Brackenhurst Conference and Training Center in Limuru, Kenya from February 16-19, 2020. This year was the largest Pathways: Africa to date, with 270 attendees from 27 different countries. During the conference, the BIWFC also sponsored a symposium titled, “A Quarter Century of Using Elephant Immuno-Contraception to Control Population Growth.” Our symposium presentations included:
pZP vaccine immunocontraception of African elephant (Loxodonta africana) cows: A review of 22 years of research
Henk Bertschinger, University of Pretoria’s Veterinary Population Management Laboratory
The Makalali Elephants: Changing the History Books
Audrey Delsink, Wildlife Director, Humane Society International/Africa
Field Application of Immunocontraception on Free Ranging Elephant Population s
JJ van Altena, Project Implementation Specialist, Humane Society International/Africa and Director, Global Supplies
Towards novel zona pellucida vaccine formulations for use in wildlife and domestic animals
Martin Schulman, Faculty of Vet Science at the University of Pretoria
Immunocontraception and Human-Elephant Conflict – Another Tool in the Conflict Mitigation Toolkit
Paul Cryer, African Conservation Trust
Forget the Science: A Field Manager’s Perspective on Elephant Immunocontraception
Pete Ruinard, Conservation Manager for Ithala Game Reserve, Ezemvelo KwaZulu – Natal Wildlife
The Emerging use of pZP in Asian Elephants: India
Sumanth Bindumadhav, Wildlife Campaign Manager, Humane Society International/India
9th International Conference on
Wildlife Fertility Control
Webinar on May 21, 2020
BIWFC Grantee Hilari French, Associate Professor of Theriogenology at Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine (RUSVM), will host our next webinar titled "An Update on Native and Recombinant Zona Pellucida Immunocontraceptives in Donkeys in the Caribbean." This presentation will review the progress the researchers at RUSVM, University of Pretoria, and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research have made in regards to the safety and efficacy of Zona Pellucida vaccines in donkeys. Results will be reviewed from two separate experiments conducted at RUSVM. Click here to register.
Podcast Features
The BIWFC Science and Policy Director Stephanie Boyles Griffin was a guest on "The Other Animals" podcast with Laurent Levy on Friday, March 13, 2020. They discussed wildlife fertility control and the role it plays in mitigating human-wildlife conflicts worldwide. Click here to listen to their discussion. The BIWFC is scheduled to participate in another Podcast titled "Projects for Wildlife". This recording will tentatively be released in August 2020.
BIWFC Video Series
The BIWFC has produced several short videos now available on our website .
They include: Urban Prairie Dogs: A Fertility Control Project featuring Dan Salkeld, a Colorado State University Research Scientist and BIWFC grantee; The Platero Project: A Model for Helping Wild Burros, featuring Grace Kahler, Field Manager for The Humane Society of the United States; and Immunocontraception in African Elephants featuring Henk Bertschinger, Emeritus Professor, University of Pretoria, South Africa.
Fertility Control Fact Sheets
Downloadable fact sheets are accessible on the BIWFC website, including information on Native PZP and GonaCon. Recently added is a fact sheet explaining ContraPest .
Support for Public Policy & Educational Projects
The BIWFC seeks public policy research projects that advance the knowledge, acceptance and implementation of wildlife fertility control as a method of human-wildlife conflict mitigation. The BIWFC goal is to support projects that will help the public and policy makers understand and evaluate existing policies on wildlife fertility control. Potential projects include: seminars, documentaries, and human dimension studies. More information can be found online .
IMPORTANT DATES
The Wildlife Society 27th Annual Conference, Sept. 27- Oct. 1, 2020
The BIWFC will sponsor a symposium titled " Fertility Control to Mitigate Human-Wildlife Conflicts " at The Wildlife Society 27th Annual Conference  in Louisville, Kentucky. Our symposium is currently scheduled for Wednesday, September 30 at 2:30pm , and will include presentations from Doug Eckery, of the USDA Animal Plant Health Inspection Service, Paul Griffin, of the Bureau of Land Management, Lyn Hinds, of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation in Australia, Dan Salkeld, of Colorado State University, and Anthony DeNicola, of White Buffalo, Inc.
International Conference on Human-Wildlife Conflict and Coexistence, Sept. 27-30, 2020
The BIWFC will attend and present at the International Conference on Human-Wildlife Conflict and Coexistence h eld in Oxford, UK. Giovanna Massei, BIWFC Advisory Board Member, will present on " The Other Side of Human-Wildlife Conflicts: A Global Perspective on Fertility Control to Manage Overabundant Wildlfe ."
IN THE NEWS
Foals Expected on Assateague Island This Year
The National Park Service's contraceptive program on Assateague Island National Seashore as been shifted to a adaptive management phase; with the last mare being contracepted in 2016, biologists confirmed eight mares were pregnant as of November 2019. According to The Dispatch , contraception is halted to allow the horse population to grow towards the upper end of the goal range of 80-100 horses.
BLM to Test Fertility Control Vaccine
The Bureau of Land Management in Nevada plans to study the efficacy of a single-dose contraceptive vaccine. According to the Las Vegas Sun , the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's National Wildlife Research Center are conducting research on an oocyte growth factor vaccine.
Booster Vaccines for Oak Bay Deer
The Oak Bay Deer Program will continue with administering booster vaccines to the 60 does inoculated last year. Females too young in 2019 will also receive their initial vaccine. The Oak Bay Mayor explains that the "goal is to prove that the program is successful so other municipalities follow suit."
Birth Control for Zimbabwe Elephants
The elephant population of Zimbabwe has risen to over 100,000. To combat human-elephant conflict and environmental damage caused by groups of elephants, The Zimbabwe Daily reports that "contraception could be a solution to contain them."
Click here to view more articles
STAFF
Stephanie Boyles Griffin - Science and Policy Director
Monique Principi - Managing Director
Rachel Soroka - Program Assistant
Rosalie Lombardo - Communications Officer
Lawrence Green - Outreach Coordinator
Elizabeth Leitzell - Digital Media Specialist
Carolyn Rauch - Senior Meeting Specialist
For more information, please visit our website