Human-Wildlife Coexistence: Navigating the New Frontier of Fertility Control
In collaboration with the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, the Botstiber Institute for Wildlife Fertility Control is pleased to announce the new course “Human-Wildlife Coexistence: Navigating the New Frontier of Fertility Control” as part of the university’s 2025 Summer School.
With increasing human-wildlife interactions and escalating ecological pressures, the demand for humane and effective wildlife population management has never been greater. Traditional methods, such as culling, are increasingly seen as ethically problematic and environmentally unsustainable. Fertility control has emerged as a potential safe, effective, sustainable and publicly acceptable alternative to lethal wildlife management to mitigate human-wildlife conflicts.
This summer course will provide undergraduate and postgraduate students with a general overview of practical applications of fertility control for ethical management of wildlife and other free-living animals. As successful implementations of fertility control depend on species and contexts and on factors such as local public attitudes, costs and feasibility, lectures and practical sessions will focus on case studies to illustrate the many aspects of wildlife fertility control applications. Students will learn about products available, methods to deliver contraceptives and to evaluate their impact on reproduction and welfare of individuals and populations of free-living animals. One of the main goals of the course is to provide students with the tools they would need if they chose to invest their future in this area. Attendees will also learn practical skills such as how to write a proposal for a project on wildlife fertility control.
Through a mixture of lectures, informal discussion groups, laboratory and field practical sessions, students will be invited to embark on a fascinating journey to learn about the challenges and opportunities offered by fertility control. The course is designed to address the rising demand for innovative conservation approaches and to prepare a new generation of professionals dedicated to balancing ecological and economic needs with animal welfare.
