PRESS RELEASE
November 1, 2018
Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Fertility Control Workshop to Focus on Non-lethal Management Methods
The Botstiber Institute for Wildlife Fertility Control to sponsor workshop in Albuquerque, NM on November 8
Media, PA – As you watch a herd of free-roaming horses gallop across the Pryor Mountain range in Montana on a bright, clear day, it may be difficult to understand how these beautiful animals, and thousands like them, could be the center of so much controversy. But for decades, managing the increasing populations of free-roaming horses and burros, especially in the western U.S., has been a source of contention between government agencies, livestock growers, animal welfare advocates, environmentalists, and the public.
In an effort to promote and advance alternative methods to manage free-roaming horse and burro populations in western landscapes, The Botstiber Institute for Wildlife Fertility Control (BIWFC) will host a Free‐Roaming Horse and Burro Fertility Control Workshop on Thursday, November 8, at the Doubletree Hotel in Albuquerque, New Mexico (201 Marquette Avenue Northwest, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 87102-2248). The workshop, which runs from 9 AM to 5 PM, will bring together federal, state and tribal government personnel, horse and burro fertility control professionals and researchers to share information on the use of fertility control methods to manage free‐roaming horse and burro populations. More than 50 participants from across the US are expected to attend.
“We are holding a workshop in Albuquerque because the decades’ old and controversial issue of how best to manage free-roaming horse and burro populations persists,” explained Monique Principi, managing director of BIWFC. “Bringing this group together in one place to learn about current options and recent developments in the field of wildlife fertility control will provide comprehensive and much needed up-to-date information.”
Attendees will receive the latest information available on how to best incorporate fertility control methods into existing management programs, including but not limited to, project development, implementation, logistical considerations, record‐keeping, identification and delivery systems as well as updates on pending research projects.
Cheryl Asa, chair of the AZA Reproductive Management Center Advisory Board, will open the workshop with her presentation “Fertility Control for Wild Horse and Burro Management: Are We There Yet?” Aza will be followed by nearly a dozen speakers including Jason Bruemmer of Colorado State University; Anthony DeNicola of White Buffalo, Inc.; Stefan Ekernas, of U.S. Geological Survey; Kim Frank and Kayla Grams of The Science and Conservation Center in Billings, Montana; and Jenny Powers of the National Park Service, Biological Resources Division, Wildlife Health Branch.
The Botstiber Institute for Wildlife Fertility Control, located in Media, PA, aims to advance the use of effective, and sustainable fertility control methods to manage wildlife populations worldwide. The Institute also serves as the world’s premier clearinghouse and resource center of wildlife fertility control. For more information about the Institute visit wildlifefertilitycontrol.org.
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CONTACT: Rose Lombardo, rlombardo@botstiber.org