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Fox fertility control research is concentrating on a bait to carry a modified gene to cause infertility in foxes according to Dr Mark Bradley from the CSIRO Division of Wildlife and Ecology and the Vertebrate Biocontrol Centre.
Speaking at the Vertebrate Pest Control Conference in Tasmania, Dr Bradley said that using a virus to deliver a gene to make a female fox infertile remains a long-term goal for the Centre but a medium-term strategy of developing a bait is now being investigated.
"We have to be very sure about a virus being specific to foxes and to date our research on viruses indicates that it is going to take a long time to find, so we have decided to investigate a bait as a means of delivering the immunocontraceptive vaccine that will render a female fox infertile," said Dr Bradley.
Laboratory-based research includes identification of fox sperm and egg proteins as vaccine targets and investigation of suitable bait material.
Dr Bradley said that wildlife vaccination by bait has been used successfully in Europe and parts of Canada and is considered to be humane to the pest species.
Dr Bradley's studies have also been reported in the latest edition of CSIRO's leading rural magazine, Rural Research, Winter 95.
At the Conference, CSIRO scientist, Dr Roger Pech will describe concurrent field research which aims to predict the effectiveness of fertility control in reducing fox numbers. As well, studies of fox predation will show how well native species can be protected by controlling foxes.
Partners in the Vertebrate Biocontrol Centre(the CRC for the Biological Control of Vertebrate Pest Populations) are the CSIRO Division of Wildlife and Ecology, the WA Department of Conservation and Land Management(CALM), the Agriculture Protection Board of WA and the Australian National University.
Funding for the research has been provided by the Australian Nature Conservation Agency(ANCA).
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