Investigating the potential of RFID in identifying individual white-tailed deer for PZP immunocontraceptive programs
Allen Rutberg
IntroductionIdentifying individual white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) for treatment with porcine zona pellucida (PZP) immunocontraceptive vaccines is critical to the success of fertility management programs, but adult female deer are very difficult to distinguish in the field. Past research has relied on chemical immobilization and ear-tagging to assure individual identification, but this approach is more technically challenging, time-consuming, costly, and stressful to animals and field