HomeMy WebLinkAboutS. Teel 1-10-11 -vaccine use on deer populaiton.pdf PZP Vaccine Use for Deer Population Control
What are the advantages of PZP?
• Contraceptive effectiveness of at least 90%
• The ability for remote delivery with no handling of animals (thus reducing stress)
• No harmful effects in pregnant animals, i.e., it would be safe for use in pregnant animals
• Absence of either short or long-term significant health side-effects
• No passage of the contraceptive agent through the food chain
• Low cost
• In short, PZP is effective, cheap, presents no danger to humans, and is not harmful to
animals.
How much would an immunocontraception program cost?
The cost of PZP vaccine is between $10 and $25 per dose at present and is constantly being
reduced as production becomes more efficient. Costs may vary according to the role played by
volunteers, how many animals are to be vaccinated, how difficult it is to find the animals, etc.
Isn't hunting or sharp shooting more efficient and cheaper than PZP?
Culling with guns or bows, as practiced in Pennsylvania, is not effective due to reproductive
rebound. If culling reduced numbers, the Pennsylvania deer herd would not have constantly
increased during the last century, while the number of deer killed each season has also
increased.
Reproductive rebound is well documented in deer and other mammals. The number of fawns
born is determined by a number of factors including nutrition and herd density. With
competition for food reduced by a sudden drop in herd numbers, younger fawns breed and
females give birth to twins and triplets instead of single fawns.
New Jersey Fish and Game reports that even during hunting seasons in which killing female
deer was the objective, the remaining females had increased birthrates that not only replaced
the ones killed, but increased the overall size of the herd.
Additionally, there are many hidden costs to professional culling. In a recent,failed attempt at
using sharpshooters to kill deer in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park, police and park personnel
were required to work around the clock for weeks, and police helicopters were used for park
surveillance.
Humans should consider that most wildlife overpopulation problems were created over many
years and that quick solutions are not the result of rational thought or fair to the wildlife.
What states have used, or are using, PZP on deer?
Connecticut
Maryland