The Anthropocene is proposed as the current epoch, which is “viewed as the period during which human activity has been the dominant influence on climate and the environment”. Many wildlife species, even if they are considered endangered, are overabundant in the ever-shrinking habitat ranges they occupy. SpayVac pzp vaccine is an effective tool to manage overpopulation.
Overabundant species, even native ones, can reduce biodiversity by monopolizing resources, spreading infectious diseases, and changing species composition or relative abundance.
The wild horse study of SpayVac being conducted in interior BC is progressing nicely. The team completed it's third set of monthly blood draws in August 2021 on all active and control animals. This is year one of a three year study.
Wild horses are iconic symbols of the North American West; however, their current situation is a tragic one. Horses have few natural predators, and their numbers grow by 15-20% annually. Left unchecked, too many horses can negatively affect native fish and wildlife and, as resources dwindle, horses themselves suffer. Current management solutions include fertility control options that require annual treatments rounding up and moving free-ranging horses into long-term holding or adoption facilities. About half of the horses removed from the range end up in long-term holding, where there are currently over 50,000 horses.
SpayVac has been shown to work for 4 years with a single injection in horses, so they don’t need to be vaccinated annually. This makes it safer and reduces stress for the animals. But we would like to improve the consistency of SpayVac’s performance, and we believe vaccine injection site makes a difference. Vaccines administered in different muscles can result in different immune responses in people, and we think the same thing happens in horses.
So we are partnering with the Bear Valley Ranch in British Columbia on a multi-year project to test the contraceptive efficacy of SpayVac when administered in either the rump or the neck. Results will hopefully encourage agencies to manage free-ranging horses with SpayVac and eventually phase-out removals from the range. Stay tuned!
Washington, DC (February 4, 2021) SFW co-founder, Dr. Ursula Bechert was recently appointed to a 3-year term on the Bureau of Land Management’s National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board along with two other new members. The Board includes nine members representing a diverse range of stakeholders and interests, and provides advice and recommendations to the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service. Dr. Bechert will serve in the research position. http://on.doi.gov/3jkRsCd
Cody, WY (Oct. 7, 2020) SFW Vice President of R&D, Dr. Ursula Bechert's talk, "Fertility Control Toolbox (overview of immunocontraceptive, IUD, and surgical options)" given at the FREES Wild Horse and Burro Summit is now available online. You can see her presentation on the Utah State University Extension web site. You can follow this link to see the presentations. https://extension.usu.edu/freesnetwork/summit-2020
September 20, 2020 (Victoria, BC), The Tokiwa Zoo in Japan, in collaboration with SpayVac-for-Wildlife, Inc., began an observational study with three of their gibbons. Two white-handed gibbons (Hylobates lar) and one Bornean white-bearded gibbon (H. albibarbis) will be vaccinated with a single dose of SpayVac and tracked for at least 4 years to see how long they remain contracepted. Primates in managed care are highly social and live in pairs or family groups, so contraception is required to prevent a surplus number of animals. Reproduction in the females to be treated has been managed previously using hormonal contraceptives, which must be administered frequently and may have adverse side effects when used long-term. SpayVac is a less intrusive alternative and specifically targets the zona pellucida. If successful, SpayVac could provide a minimally disruptive means of managing reproduction of wild primates in zoos and nature reserves.
July 7, 2020 (Madison, WI)
Konik Horse Project Announced
In the spring of 2015, Konik horses were introduced to a World Wildlife Fund floodplain reserve in Austria. Also known as the Polish primitive horse, Koniks are short in height, ranging from 12.3-13.3 hands, compared to an average of 15 hands for an average horse. These small, semi-feral horses were bred for larger shoulders to improve their value as working horses. Since their initial introduction, the herd has grown to more than 26 animals, so this year, a group of ten Konik mares were vaccinated with SpayVac.
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SpayVac is known for its single dose, multi-year contraceptive efficacy; however, no long-term studies have been conducted to determine how many years mares actually remain infertile. The longest study with horses was 4 years in duration, and mares had fertility rates of 0, 17, 17, and 17% compared to 75, 75, 88, and 100% for untreated mares. This research project will determine how long mares given a single injection of SpayVac will remain infertile.
June 3, 2020 (Victoria, BC) SpayVac for Wildlife, Inc. (SFW) announces a research collaboration agreement with the National Wildlife Research Center (NWRC) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Under this collaborative agreement, SFW has worked with USDA-NWRC to formulate a novel immunocontraceptive vaccine, using VacciMax®, for a trial in captive horses. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is providing the horses to be tested. Testing of this new vaccine began in May with all horses entering the study having completed their injection. This new vaccine uses our patented nanoparticle formulation in combination with Bone Morphogenetic Protein 15 (BMP-15) and Growth Differentiation Factor 9 (GDF-9) antigens. Both BMP-15 and GDF-9 are known regulators of follicular growth, and a preliminary study by Davis, et al. (2018) demonstrated effects on follicular size, ovulation rate, and estrous behavior. Long-term studies are still needed, but this vaccine may cause permanent sterility in mares, which would be a welcome fertility control option for free-ranging herds that are difficult to access. Safety and efficacy will be studied over a 3-year period in a controlled trial.
“We are excited about the opportunity to develop novel treatments for overabundant wildlife in a partnership with the USDA and APHIS. They have extensive knowledge of fertility control methods and access to horses that can be used for testing the safety and efficacy of new products.” -- Dr. Ursula Bechert, Cofounder and VP of Research and Development for SFW.
"There is a high unmet need for fertility control to manage wildlife populations," said Mr. Mark Fraker-- VP of Operations and Cofounder. "Agencies responsible for managing overabundant animal populations, such as BLM, are under pressure to reduce an exploding wild horse population and do it in a humane way."
SFW's lead vaccine candidates, SpayVac-equid and SpayVac-cervid, are expected to be submitted for approval by the EPA in 3Q 2020. SFW plans to develop an entire portfolio of novel, patented fertility-control vaccines for multiple species.
June 1, 2020 (Madison, WI) The Summit on Free Roaming Equids and Ecosystem Sustainability will be held in Cody, Wyoming at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. This meeting is a follow-up to the successful Summit held in Reno, Nevada in 2019. The purpose is “to develop stakeholder-based comprehensive communication strategies and processes to manage free-roaming equids in concert with other public lands multiple-use objectives to achieve western rangeland ecosystem sustainability”.
During the Summit, updates will be shared from the FREES network including working group progress, new research, and policy developments. Dr. Ursula Bechert,-- VP of Research and Development for SFW, and Mr. Mark Fraker, -- VP of Operations for SFW, will be serving on a panel to discuss fertility control options as well as logistical constraints for management of feral horse populations. Participants will work with this information, as well as modeling parameters, to come up with potential horse management solutions.
Mark and Ursula have been serving as members of the FREES Population Management Working Group this past year. SpayVac offers a humane alternative to managing free-ranging horse populations for multiple years with a single injection. We’re honored to have a voice at the table.
December 2019 (Madison, WI) SpayVac has been tested in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) and fallow deer (Dama dama) in four trials. Now, SpayVac pZP is being tested in a group of 25 female red deer (Cervus elaphus). They are currently being treated with SpayVac and fitted with GPS collars for a monitoring period of 2-3 years. Pregnancy status of the animals will be checked by analyzing fecal samples to identify individuals genetically and then quantify their steroid hormone concentrations. SpayVac has performed very well in the past (87-100% efficacy over 3+ years). This is a collaborative project, which also will compares behavioral differences between pregnant and non-pregnant animals.
November 2019 (Victoria, BC and Madison, WI) A collaborative study was initiated to test contraceptive efficacy in a population of free-ranging macaques (Macaca mulatta). The breeding season for these macaques is in December-March, their gestation is 5½ months long, and births typically occur in May-August. Fifty female rhesus macaques have been vaccinated. This study is a follow up to replicate positive results from an earlier trial conducted in Hong Kong. Macaques are considered to be an invasive species in some parts of the world, including Florida and South Carolina. Populations are often overabundant, which is especially problematic when they live in close proximity to humans in urban and semi-urban areas. They can cause damage to property and agriculture in addition to spreading zoonotic diseases. SpayVac’s ability to provide multi-year contraceptive efficacy with a single injection makes it an excellent option for free-ranging primate population control.