Contact Information: 

Mr. John D. Eisemann

Registration Manager

NWRC Headquarters

4101 LaPorte Avenue 

Fort Collins, CO 80521

Phone: (970) 266-6158 

FAX: (970) 266-6157

john.d.eisemann@aphis.usda.gov

www.aphis.usda.gov/wildlife_damage/

nwrc/ 

Major Cooperators

 Association of Fish and Wildlife 

Agencies

 International pesticide product 

developers

 Private pesticide and repellent 

registrants 

 State pesticide regulatory agencies

 State wildlife management agencies

 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

 Wildlife Services Operations

Wildlife Services

Protecting People rotecting People

Protecting Agriculture rotecting Agriculture

Protecting Wildlife rotecting Wildlife

FY 2012

National Wildlife Research Center

United States Department of Agriculture

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

National Wildlife Research Center Maintains Chemical Tools for Wildlife 

Damage Management

The NWRC Registration Unit serves many roles within Wildlife Services (WS), but the 

majority of its work is focused in three general areas. First, the Registration Unit provides 

regulatory guidance to NWRC management and scientists on product development. 

Second, it assists WS Operations personnel with regulatory issues for using chemical 

control methods to manage wildlife damage. Third, as part of the WS Pesticide 

Coordinating Committee (PCC), the Registration Unit works closely with other committee 

members, including APHIS’ Policy and Program Development, Environmental and Risk 

Analysis Services offi ce, WS Operational Support Staff, and the Pocatello Supply Depot 

to ensure APHIS chemical-based vertebrate pest management tools are current and meet 

State and Federal regulations. 

APHIS holds product registrations with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

for rodenticides, predacides, avicides, repellents, a snake toxicant, an avian repellent 

and a contraceptive vaccine. APHIS also holds Investigational New Animal Drug (INAD) 

applications with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for immobilizing agents 

used in animal damage management. To maintain or expand authorized use of these 

products, the Registration Unit works closely with NWRC scientists to ensure that studies 

conducted for regulatory purposes meet EPA and FDA guidelines.

In addition to these primary functions, the Registration Unit also provides technical 

and regulatory assistance and information to state WS programs, Federal and State 

agricultural and conservation agencies, academic institutions, non-governmental groups, 

and private industry. Many of the requests for assistance come from WS Operations 

personnel seeking new products or improvements to existing products, or looking for help 

interpreting product labels to ensure proposed applications are legal.

Applying Science and Expertise to Wildlife Challenges

APHIS Pesticide Product Registrations—APHIS currently holds registrations through 

the EPA for eleven active ingredients formulated into 23 Federally-registered vertebrate 

pesticide products. These products meet the needs of bird management (fi ve avicide 

products and one avian repellent), rodent management (11 rodenticide products), predator 

management for livestock and threatened and endangered species protection (four 

predacide products), brown treesnake management on Guam (one toxicant), and whitetailed deer, wild horse and wild burro management (a contraceptive vaccine for reducing 

fertility). In addition, APHIS maintains two INAD permits with the FDA. These INADs allow 

WS employees to use immobilizing agents when removing problem birds from urban areas 

and for sedating coyotes and wolves captured during research activities.

Rodenticides—Rodenticide issues continue to be a large focus of the NWRC. With the 

EPA’s rodenticide risk mitigation measures becoming fully implemented in 2012, the array 

of products available for commensal and agricultural uses is becoming more restricted. 

To meet the changing market, the NWRC is working closely with private rodenticide 

manufacturers to investigate new product chemistries or use patterns that will fi ll the 

void created by the impact of EPA’s mitigation measures. A top priority for this effort is 

to focus on formulations and uses that minimize the impact on nontarget species and 

the environment. The NWRC helps to assess the registration potential of rodenticide 

developments and acts as the liaison between regulators and product developers.

The NWRC serves as the primary WS contact for registration issues related to eradicating 

rodents from islands for the protection of threatened and endangered species and critical 

habitats. Since securing three rodenticide registrations in 2007 for this purpose, the 

NWRC has provided regulatory guidance or direct assistance on nine rodent eradication 

Product Registration: Providing roduct Registration: Providing 

Tools for Wildlife Services ools for Wildlife Services

Groups Affected By These Problems

 Farmers, ranchers, and livestock 

producers

 Federal, State,and private natural 

resource managers

 Urban and suburban residents
projects in the Pacifi c and the Caribbean regions to protect 

nesting seabirds and unique island habitats. Many of these 

projects involved working with the EPA to secure product labeling 

appropriate for the conditions of each eradication project. 

In 2011, the NWRC was an integral part of the largest 

environmental monitoring effort conducted in conjunction with 

a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service-sponsored rodent eradication 

effort. The eradication project occurred on Palmyra Atoll and 

employed a rodenticide application rate nearly six times higher 

than currently allowed on approved product labels. The goal of 

the eradication effort was to enhance the biodiversity of seabirds, 

native plants and terrestrial invertebrates on the atoll by removing 

invasive rats. NWRC scientists evaluated the overall impact of 

the eradication effort on nontarget species and the environment 

by measuring the application rate and bait distribution on the 

ground following aerial application and documented the fate of 

bait, collected carcasses of potential nontarget mortalities, and 

systematically collected soil, water, insects, geckos, fi sh, and 

crabs to determine environmental residue levels. 

NWRC continues to coordinate a consortium of private 

companies who register zinc phosphide-based rodenticide 

products. Collectively, this consortium gathers data to maintain 

EPA registrations of zinc phosphide rodenticides and works 

to develop appropriate precautionary language on product 

labels. The consortium has saved WS hundreds of thousands 

of dollars and saved consortium members millions of dollars by 

consolidating EPA data requirements and providing clarifying 

information.

Bird Management Tools—DRC-1339 (Starlicide) continues to 

be a valuable tool for managing damage caused by birds. APHIS 

holds EPA registrations for fi ve DRC-1339 based products that 

are used to manage damage caused by blackbirds and invasive 

European starlings at feedlots and agricultural fi elds, gulls at 

landfi lls, pigeons roosting on structures, and crows and ravens 

preying on livestock and threatened and endangered species. In 

2012, the EPA began reevaluating DRC-1339 data and product 

labels under their Registration Evaluation program. As a result 

of this evaluation, EPA asked APHIS and the other DRC-1339 

registrant (Virbac Animal Health) to provide more than 20 new 

data submissions in areas of terrestrial and aquatic toxicology, 

environmental persistence and human health and safety. If 

ultimately required, these data submissions would cost the U.S. 

Government and the other private registrant nearly $2.3 million. 

In response to this request, the NWRC assembled and submitted 

to EPA existing published and unpublished data, waiver requests 

and drafted new product label language in an effort to reduce the 

registration costs.

Over the past decade, the NWRC has responded to an 

increasing number of requests from WS operational staff for new 

control tools for addressing crow, raven and blackbird damage 

problems. As a result, the number of State-specifi c DRC1339 registrations has increased to more than 25. In an effort 

to reduce the administrative burden associated with this high 

volume of product registrations and to provide WS operational 

staff with greater fl exibility in using DRC-1339 to address crow, 

raven and blackbird problems, the NWRC and PCC submitted a 

new product label allowing greater fl exibility for use in feedlots. 

NWRC and PCC are also working to include these uses on 

the label used to protect fi eld crop, endangered species, and 

human health and safety.The NWRC also provides signifi cant 

guidance to scientists and private industry on the development 

of anthraquinone and currently registered fungicides for avian 

repellent uses. Current projects are aimed at developing 

chemical repellents for seed treatment and foliar applications in 

corn, sunfl ower, and rice.

Wildlife Contraceptives—The NWRC is a world leader in 

the development of effective wildlife contraceptives. In 2009, 

NWRC researchers successfully registered with the EPA the 

fi rst immunocontraceptive vaccine for use in wildlife when 

they registered GonaConTM Immunocontraceptive Vaccine 

(GonaCon) as single-shot, multi-year vaccine for female whitetailed deer. GonaCon promises to be useful for managing 

not only urban white-tailed deer where traditional options 

are limited, but also populations of other species. In January 

2013, the EPA registration for GonaCon was expanded to 

include wild and feral horses and burros. Research has shown 

GonaCon to be an effective reproductive inhibitor in these 

species as well as elk, bison, prairie dogs, ground squirrels, 

and feral dogs and cats. NWRC and its collaborators are 

investigating the use of GonaCon for reducing the spread of 

rabies in feral dogs and raccoons, preventing adrenocortical 

disease in pet ferrets, and preventing the spread of brucellosis 

in bison. The vaccine is being used for research purposes 

in the United States, Mexico, Europe, New Zealand, and 

Australia. Future NWRC research with GonaCon likely will 

involve studies to support expanded registration to other 

species, to develop oral delivery systems, and to prevent 

transmission of wildlife diseases.

Registration of Predacides—APHIS holds four registrations 

for using sodium cyanide and sodium fl uoroacetate 

(Compound 1080) as predacides. These products are used 

at the request of ranchers to protect livestock from coyote 

predation or at the request of conservation organizations for 

protecting threatened, endangered or economically important 

species. These compounds are currently being reviewed by 

the EPA for the adequacy of supporting data and product label 

restrictions. Given the volume of data APHIS submitted to 

EPA in response to the 2007 petition to cancel these products 

and the new restrictions imposed at that time, the NWRC does 

not anticipate new regulatory actions resulting from EPA’s 

current review of these products.

Given the societal concerns around the use of the traditional 

predacides described above, the NWRC is investigating new 

compounds in a search for safer, more humane predacides. 

In 2011, NWRC began collaborating with a private Australian 

company to investigate the possibility of developing the 

compound para-aminopropiophenol (PAPP) as a predacide. 

PAPP was originally developed in the 1960s as an antidote for 

human radiation poisoning. In historical pharmaceutical trials, 

PAPP was found to be specifi cally more toxic to carnivores 

than to birds and humans. PAPP is currently registered in 

New Zealand for the control of stoats and feral cats. Initial 

product development efforts on PAPP in the United States are 

ongoing.

Development of a Feral Swine Toxicant—Feral swine are 

an increasing problem in the United States and around the 

world. They destroy native vegetation, prey on wildlife and 

livestock, and transmit diseases to humans and livestock. WS 

is pursuing an EPA registration of sodium nitrite for use as a 

feral swine toxicant. Sodium nitrite is a preservative for pork 

and other meats that happens to be toxic to live swine. NWRC 

signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement 

with the Invasive Species Cooperative Research Centre in 

Australia to share existing Australian registration data that 

may be appropriate to support an EPA product registration. 

Additionally, NWRC is conducting laboratory studies with 

sodium nitrite to gather acute oral avian toxicology, avian 

dietary toxicology, and end-product toxicology data. Field 

studies on various delivery systems are being conducted 

in Texas with future efforts planned for Mississippi, Florida, 

Michigan, and Missouri. This partnership will save APHIS 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is an equal opportunity employment provider and employer
hundreds of thousands of dollars in EPA registration data 

development costs. A private Australian company has also 

partnered with NWRC to provide funding to investigate sodium 

nitrite as a rodenticide.

International Activities—NWRC helps to transfer WS 

products and technologies to countries around the world. Over 

the past 3 years, the NWRC has worked with the governments 

of American Samoa, Israel, New Zealand, and Australia to 

improve their ability to manage pest bird populations using 

DRC-1339 products. The NWRC is also working with Australia, 

New Zealand, England, and Mexico to transfer wildlife 

contraceptive technology. Collaborative work with Canada, 

New Zealand, and numerous small Pacifi c Island nations has 

aided in their efforts to use rodenticides as a conservation tool 

to protect off-shore islands. 

Information Sharing: Environmental Risk Assessment and 

New Management Tools—In 2011, NWRC launched an online 

searchable NWRC Chemical Effects Database containing 

historical data for approximately 7,000 chemicals analyzed 

and evaluated for repellency, toxicity, reproductive inhibition 

and immobilization on a variety of plants, birds, mammals, and 

amphibians. The database is useful to researchers worldwide 

who are involved in environmental risk assessments and the 

development of new damage management tools. 

Selected Publications:

AVERY, M. L., J. D. EISEMANN, K. L. KEACHER, and P. J. 

SAVARIE. 2011. Acetaminophen and zinc phosphide for lethal 

management of invasive lizards Ctenosaura similis. Current 

Zoology 57:625-629.

EISEMANN, J. D., S. J. WERNER, and J. R. O’HARE. 2011. 

Registration considerations for chemical bird repellents in fruit 

crops. Outlooks on Pest Management 22:87-91. 

ENGEMAN, R. M., W. C. PITT, A. R. BERENTSEN and J. D. 

EISEMANN. 2012. Assessing spatial variation and overall 

density of aerially broadcast toxic bait during a rat eradication 

on Palmyra Atoll. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. DOI 10.1007/

s11356-012-1050-6.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is an equal opportunity employment provider and employer

LAPIDGE, S. J., J. WISHART, L. STAPLES, K. A. 

FAGERSTONE, T. A. CAMPBELL, and J. D. EISEMANN. 2012. 

Development of a Feral Swine Toxic Bait (Hog-Gone®) and 

Bait Hopper (Hog-HopperTM) in Australia and the USA. Pages 

19-24 in S. N. Frey, editor. Proceedings of the Fourteenth 

Wildlife Damage Management Conference, Nebraska City, 

NE. The Wildlife Damage Management Working Group of The 

Wildlife Society. 

RATTNER, B. A., K. E. HORAK, R. S. LAZARUS, K. M. 

EISENREICH, C. U. METEYER, S. F. VOLKER, C. M. 

CAMPTON, J. D. EISEMANN, and J. J. JOHNSTON. 2012. 

Assessment of toxicity and potential risk of the anticoagulant 

rodenticide diphacinone using Eastern screech-owls 

(Megascops asio). Ecotoxicology 21:832-846.

RATTNER, B. A., K. E. HORAK, S. E. WARNER, D. D. DAY, 

C. U. METEYER, S. F. VOLKER, J. D. EISEMANN, and J. 

J. JOHNSTON. 2011. Acute toxicity, histopathology, and 

coagulopathy in American kestrels (Falco sparverius) following 

administration of the rodenticide diphacinone. Environmental 

Toxicology and Chemistry 30:1213-1222.

Major Registration Accomplishments:

• APHIS was granted an EPA registration for the use 

of the GonaConTM Immunocontraceptive Vaccine to 

manage fertility in wild and feral horses and burros. WS 

continues to conduct research to expand the vaccine’s 

registration to other species. 

• WS was an integral part of the largest environmental 

monitoring effort conducted for a U.S. rodent 

eradication effort on Palmyra Atoll (a remote island in 

the Pacifi c Ocean, approximately 1,000 miles south of 

Hawaii). 
 USDA is an equal employment provider and employer

Vertebrate Control Products Currently Registered or Approved for Use by USDA APHIS

Taxa APHIS Products Mode of 

Action Species Uses Unique to APHIS

RODENTS Zinc Phosphide

(3 products) Lethal Voles, mice, rats, hares, woodchucks, ground 

squirrels, muskrats, nutria, prairie dogs Some

Strychnine

(4 products) Lethal Pocket gophers No

Gas Cartridge (1 

product) Lethal Prairie dogs, ground squirrels, woodchucks, 

marmots No

Diphacinone

(1 product) Lethal Invasive rodents on islands Yes

Brodifacoum

(2 products) Lethal Invasive rodents on islands Yes

CANINE 

PREDATORS

Large Gas Cartridge

(1 product) Lethal Coyotes, red foxes, striped skunks Yes

M-44 Cyanide 

Capsules

(2 products)

Lethal Coyotes, red foxes, gray foxes, arctic foxes, 

feral dogs Some

Livestock Protection 

Collar 

Compound 1080

Lethal Coyotes Yes

Tranquilizer Trap 

Device

Non-lethal

Immobilizing 

Agent

Wolves, coyotes, feral dogs Yes

CERVIDS

GonaCon 

Immunocontraceptive 

Vaccine

Non-lethal

Contraceptive White-tailed deer, wild horses and burros Yes

BIRDS

Compound DRC-1339 

Concentrate

(4 labels)

Lethal Gulls, pigeons, ravens, crows, magpies, 

starlings, blackbirds Yes

Compound DRC-1339 

Concentrate—Feedlots Lethal Blackbirds, starlings, grackles, cowbirds Some

Mesurol Aversive 

Conditioning

Egg Treatment

Non-lethal Crows, ravens Yes

Alpha-chloralose Non-lethal Geese, ducks, coots, pigeons, ravens Yes

Corn Oil Non-Lethal Canada geese No

SNAKES Acetaminophen Lethal Brown treesnakes Yes

Cinnamon, Clove and 

Anise Oil

Non-lethal 

Repellent Snakes No