Family Planning Goes Wild

Since human activity is changing the ecosystem and altering habitats to the detriment of some species and the advantage of others, inevitably the species that prosper most are those least convenient to human beings: grey squirrels, wild boar, winged rats, feral budgies and Homo sapiens ipsedixit. Since artificial limits on human breeding are a priori out of the question, scientists are considering how best to curb fertility in wild animals. The Americans are already administering contraceptives to feral horses, while the South Africans are injecting them into the local elephants; but expanding the practice to smaller species may involve one or two difficulties. Quite apart from the likely objections by religious groups, many of which are inhabited almost exclusively by voracious little breeders, there could also be trouble from the trans-basher community, who can hardly be expected to support measures that might allow male fish to sneak onto their plates in the guise of femininity.