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Re: [RC] Birth Control for Mustangs? - heidiHaven't they done some type of sterilization to other animal populations by way of shots or putting out something they eat to sterilize them? Couldn't that be done with Mustangs? Or capturing and castrating males? Something to cut down on these populations. There has been some research into doing this, and I'm not sure what the most current information is about it. But can share a few comments... One, castrating the males makes little difference unless you can castrate a LOT of them. Most of the males run in bachelor groups, and a typical group of mares with a stallion is about five or six. And if there were not other males taking mares away, bands would likely be a bit bigger. So you would have to castrate well over 90% of the males before you even STARTED to have an impact on population. In order to control the population by controlling the conception rate, you have to make the mares less likely to conceive. That said, there ARE progesterone implants for mares, but they are somewhat short-lived. If mares could be rounded up in the spring, and have these implants put in, it might render them infertile for that breeding season--or might just make them conceive late, so that they have late foals, which are more apt to be gotten by predators, or not make it through the winter without handouts from humans. So I'm not sure this is a really humane alternative, either. Never mind that in addition to the cost of the implants (not sure what they run now), there is the labor and the risk to both humans and horses to capture these horses annually and administer the implants. In any event, the actual cost of the implants pales compared to the labor and logistics of it all. Heidi =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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