As winter is begrudgingly giving way to spring in England, we are buzzing in preparation for our 1st Workshop on Wildlife Fertility Control. Key facts include:
– 15 talks from international experts, covering traditional topics such as contraceptives for mammals and birds, and innovative aspects such as fertility control and rewilding, as well as understanding emotions to mitigate human-wildlife conflicts.
– One illustrious guest speaker. We are incredibly lucky that the Earl of Kinnoull has accepted our invitation to be our guest of honor. Lord Kinnoull, who is a member of the House of Lord and chair of the UK Squirrel Accord and of the Red Squirrel Survival Trust, has been a key supporter of research to develop oral contraceptives for non-native grey squirrels in the UK.
– The Head of Media Relations of the University of York, Alistair Keely, who will help us to understand how we could be better at communicating science.
– A full day of discussions, facilitated by Pamela Abbott, Director of Natural Cambridgeshire and experienced in stakeholder engagement. Day 2 will give attendees the opportunity to share their views and interact with experts.
Registration will close on the 3rd of June, we will be looking forward to seeing you in York!
A Trip Across the Pond
In March, when I attended the Vertebrate Pest Conference in Monterey, I took a couple of extra-weeks to visit the area between San Francisco and Big Sur. Travelling from San Francisco to the Pinnacles National Park I experienced the local version of the challenges of human-wildlife coexistence. Black-tailed deer happily browsing among cars in downtown Pacific Grove, Southern sea otters that have increased in recent decades around Monterey bay and now raise concerns of competing with the fisheries, posters throughout San Francisco’s green spaces asking people not to feed coyotes and raccoons.
The vast croplands around Salinas, with little signs of wildlife, next to large areas dedicated to conservation, like the Pinnacles National Park, reminded me once again of some key differences between Europe and the USA. These continents cover similar surfaces (USA: 9,147,590 km2 or 3,531,905 sq mi; Europe: 10,180,000 km2 or 3,930,000 sq mi) but differ dramatically in human population size. With ~ 745 millions of people recorded in 2021, Europe has more than double the 331.5 million population in the US.
This is precisely why Europe, more urgently than other countries, needs help in shaping a form of human-wildlife coexistence that society aspires to. It is also why we need to talk about wildlife fertility control as one of the tools we have to meet this aspiration.
Giovanna
Dr. Giovanna Massei
April 2024
