{"title":"Reduced Fecundity in Free-Ranging Norway Rats After Baiting With a Liquid Fertility Control Bait","authors":"G. Witmer, Stefanie Raymond-Whish","doi":"10.26077/10A0-13C9","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) cause extensive crop loss, infrastructure damage, and are vectors for zoonotic diseases. Due to reduced efficacy, environmental and animal welfare concerns related to traditional pest management tools, such as rodenticides, it is imperative to find new methods for controlling commensal rodents. Fertility control is emerging as a safe, humane, and effective method of long-term population management. Vinylcyclohexene diepoxide (VCD) and triptolide are 2 compounds that are known to target and inhibit ovarian function. Furthermore, triptolide debilitates spermatogenesis and sperm motility. We prepared liquid bait containing no active ingredients (control) or containing VCD (0.098%) and triptolide (0.0012%, treatment) and offered ad libitum for 56 days to male and female Norway rats placed in open, indoor arenas and allowed to breed for 4 rounds (a total of 138 days). The first 3 breeding rounds of treatment-matched matings produced fewer pups in the treatment rats compared to control rats (P < 0.001). In the fourth breeding round, control rats were cross-bred with treatment rats. There were no differences in pup numbers between these cross-breeding groups, but the litter sizes in both groups were smaller than those seen in the control female/control male matings. In addition to reduced pup numbers, treatment males and females exhibited decreased reproductive organ weights without any effect on adrenal, kidney, spleen, and liver weights compared to control rats. Use of a liquid contraceptive bait containing VCD and triptolide may be a suitable alternative to the traditional pest management tools used to control wild rat pest populations.","PeriodicalId":13095,"journal":{"name":"Human–Wildlife Interactions","volume":"10 1","pages":"17"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9000,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"5","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Human–Wildlife Interactions","FirstCategoryId":"93","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.26077/10A0-13C9","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 5
Abstract
Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) cause extensive crop loss, infrastructure damage, and are vectors for zoonotic diseases. Due to reduced efficacy, environmental and animal welfare concerns related to traditional pest management tools, such as rodenticides, it is imperative to find new methods for controlling commensal rodents. Fertility control is emerging as a safe, humane, and effective method of long-term population management. Vinylcyclohexene diepoxide (VCD) and triptolide are 2 compounds that are known to target and inhibit ovarian function. Furthermore, triptolide debilitates spermatogenesis and sperm motility. We prepared liquid bait containing no active ingredients (control) or containing VCD (0.098%) and triptolide (0.0012%, treatment) and offered ad libitum for 56 days to male and female Norway rats placed in open, indoor arenas and allowed to breed for 4 rounds (a total of 138 days). The first 3 breeding rounds of treatment-matched matings produced fewer pups in the treatment rats compared to control rats (P < 0.001). In the fourth breeding round, control rats were cross-bred with treatment rats. There were no differences in pup numbers between these cross-breeding groups, but the litter sizes in both groups were smaller than those seen in the control female/control male matings. In addition to reduced pup numbers, treatment males and females exhibited decreased reproductive organ weights without any effect on adrenal, kidney, spleen, and liver weights compared to control rats. Use of a liquid contraceptive bait containing VCD and triptolide may be a suitable alternative to the traditional pest management tools used to control wild rat pest populations.
期刊介绍：
Human–Wildlife Interactions (HWI) serves the professional needs of the wildlife biologist and manager in the arena of human–wildlife conflicts/interactions, wildlife damage management, and contemporary wildlife management. The intent of HWI is to publish original contributions on all aspects of contemporary wildlife management and human–wildlife interactions with an emphasis on scientific research and management case studies that identify and report innovative conservation strategies, technologies, tools, and partnerships that can enhance human–wildlife interactions by mitigating human–wildlife conflicts through direct and indirect management of wildlife and increased stakeholder engagement. Our intent is to promote a dialogue among wildlife professionals concerning contemporary management issues. As such, we hope to provide a repository for wildlife management science and case studies that document and share manager experiences and lessons learned.
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