Boing Boing: Birth control for squirrels

Monday, December 11, 2006

Birth control for squirrels

The Scottish government is funding research on birth control for squirrels. They hope that immunocontraception will prove to be a safe and effective way to control the expanding population of grey squirrels that's putting red squirrels at risk. From the Scotsman.com:

(A Scottish Executive spokesman) said scientists were experimenting with a "fertility control agent" which had been used successfully in the US and was now being tried on a range of species, not just squirrels.

The squirrels are caught in humane traps before being given the contraceptive.

The spokesman said: "The materials are administered by injection, and recent formulations can render an animal sterile for a number of years with a single dose."

He stressed there were a number of problems still to be overcome, one of which was to make sure the contraceptives were not ingested by other species.

Link (via Fortean Times)

posted by David Pescovitz at 08:48:51 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

suggest a link \| defeat censorware \| rss \| archives \| t-shirts \| digital emporium \| podcast feed \| mark \| cory \| david \| xeni \| john
Support Bloggers' Rights! HOWTO: Get a link posted to Boing Boing Boing Boing Mobile powered by Winksite Fark rules! This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution. Boing Boing is a trademark of Happy Mutants LLC in the United States [and other countries]. Stats (About our stats) defeat censorware Policies Our first five years' worth of posts in one file	Monday, December 11, 2006 Birth control for squirrels The Scottish government is funding research on birth control for squirrels. They hope that immunocontraception will prove to be a safe and effective way to control the expanding population of grey squirrels that's putting red squirrels at risk. From the Scotsman.com: (A Scottish Executive spokesman) said scientists were experimenting with a "fertility control agent" which had been used successfully in the US and was now being tried on a range of species, not just squirrels. The squirrels are caught in humane traps before being given the contraceptive. The spokesman said: "The materials are administered by injection, and recent formulations can render an animal sterile for a number of years with a single dose." He stressed there were a number of problems still to be overcome, one of which was to make sure the contraceptives were not ingested by other species. Link (via Fortean Times) posted by David Pescovitz at 08:48:51 PM permalink \| Other blogs' comments Email this entry to: Your email address: Message (optional):	Boing Boing Sponsored by: Your Text Ad Here Get BB by email: