The Boar-Operated-System: a Novel Method to Deliver Baits to Wild Pigs

Autor: Roger Quy, Dave P. Cowan, Giovanna Massei, Kate Storer, Julia Coats
Rok vydání: 2010
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of Wildlife Management. 74:333-336
ISSN: 1937-2817
0022-541X
DOI: 10.2193/2008-489
Popis: Bait-delivered pharmaceuticals, increasingly used to manage populations of wild boar (Sus scrofa) and feral pigs, may be ingested by nontarget species. Species-specificity could be achieved through a delivery system. We designed the BOS TM (Boar-Operated- System) as a device to deliver baits to wild pigs. The BOS TM consists of a metal pole onto which a round perforated base is attached. A metal cone with a wide rim slides up and down the pole and fully encloses the base onto which the baits are placed. We conducted a pilot, captive trial and found that captive wild boar fed from the BOS TM either directly, by lifting the cone, or indirectly, by feeding once another animal had lifted TM and whether the BOS TM could prevent bait uptake by nontarget species. We observed that free-living wild boar fed regularly from the BOS TM and that the device successfully prevented bait uptake by nontarget species. The BOS TM should be trialed more extensively to confirm its effectiveness and species-specificity to distribute pharmaceuticals to wild suids. If successful, the BOS TM could be used to deliver vaccines in disease control programs as well as contraceptives to manage overabundant populations of wild suids.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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