Why can we just sterilise the camels and stop them breeding?
Fertility control is the holy grail when it comes to pest animal management. It potentially offers a means to reduce populations of pest animals, particularly those with high reproductive rates, and the impacts they have without killing individuals. However, despite a large degree of research effort having been expended in this area over the past 20 years in Australia and overseas, there are very few practical management outcomes as a result. Research to manage both rabbits and foxes in Australia using fertility control have come to nought (McLeod et al. 2010). Nevertheless, research is continuing in this area. Four new technologies are being developed that hold prospects for effective fertility management in a range of species in some situations, including camels (Lapidge et al. 2008 and 2010). Their advantages include being target specific (no or low risk to other animals in the same environment, such as cattle and sheep), and the potential to sterilise or provide long-term contracep
