[7] Oral contraceptives may also be developed for population control among a variety of animals, including deer, feral pigs, coyotes, cougars, dogs and cats.
The project has been supported by the UK's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and aims to "provide an effective, less labour intensive, non-lethal method for managing grey squirrels" by January 2024.
[12] In 2007, the EPA registered the first product for oral contraception of feral pigeons and other pest birds in the US, called OvoControl P, containing the active ingredient nicarbazin.
[13] www.ovocontrol.com An oral contraceptive was also introduced in 2005 for the control of Canada geese,[6] but abandoned in 2011 due to regulatory barriers and pressure from hunting groups.
While it may seem counter-intuitive to develop contraceptives for an endangered animal, their use is intended to promote the wild behaviour of mating freely, but without certain females over-contributing to the next generation, which "can have long-term genetic consequences for the insurance population".