by Chrystal Mahan

Created on: November 02, 2009

An area of land can only hold a species for so long before that land has become depleted of its natural resources. As the population of the species grows the land becomes limited. In time the land will not be able to support any life at all. Contraceptives are now being given to overpopulated wildlife species (Blumig and Hanback, 1993). This will control the population and ensure there is enough food and land for the species to live on with out destroying it completely. Since this world has limited land for the wildlife we must control the populations as best as we can or there will be no land left.

A group in favor of wildlife contraceptive is the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). This organization's main goal is to make sure animals are well cared for and treated fairly. Right now their biggest concern is to stop the killing of animals to control the population. That is the main reason this organization has taken in the responsibility of introducing contraceptives to wildlife. National Parks Service (NPS) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have also helped in the introduction, providing and raising funds, testing, and usage. The members of the organizations feel contraceptives are a humane solution (Blumig & Hanback, 1993) vs. being inhumane and killing and animals. In 1995, two years after its start with the HSUS, the NPS had their funds revokes because the use of contraceptive is still being studies. The long term uses and effects are still not known (Anonymous, 1995).

The characteristics of the ideal contraceptive program are as follows: at least 90% effective, the ability to deliver the agent remotely with out capture, reversibility of the contraceptive effect if need be, safety for use on pregnant animals, absence of significant side effect long and short term, no passage of the contraceptive to the food chain, minimal effect upon individual and social behaviors, and low cost. This list was originally created for wild horses contraceptives and not all items may be applicable to all species. For example, reversibility of contraceptive action is essential for wild horse population but may not be considered desirable for urban deer (www.all-creatures.org, nd).

A group that is caught in the middle is an agency known as The National Audubon Society. This organization along with Animal Defense Management uses lethal control on the overpopulation. But, The National Audubon Society has turned in favor of wildlife contraceptives,

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