OTTER CREEK CONSERVANCY CAUSES AND PROJECTS
Otter Creek Conservancy is an organization dedicated to protecting our environment from invasive and non-native species. We are running the Feral Hog Contraception Project where we work on Immunocontraception to attempt to stop the rampant breeding of feral hogs. We are focused on finding an oral vaccine for the horrible disease Brucellosis which affects wild animals, domestic animals and can be transmitted to humans, We are also focused on other invasive species like pythons, iguanas, and monitor lizards. Lastly, we are hoping to get approval to study and monitor the Endangered Lower Keys Marsh Rabbit, found only in the Key West area.
Please review our efforts below. If you wish to support our efforts, please check out our Donation and Adoption pages.
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Do you know that every 6 months a female feral hog can have a new litter of 6-9 piglets. These piglets become breeding age at as young as 6 months! There are few natural predators and current human efforts to control the population explosion are not working. That leads to over $1.5 BILLION in damages and environmental destruction.
Help Us Take Action
Our primary project today is the continued development, testing, permitting and employment of an oral contraception vaccine for both male and female feral hogs.
Feral hogs can breed at the early age of 6 months and a single female can have two litters of 6 to 9 piglets a year! With few natural predators, even human control measures such as trapping, barbaric field castrations, and hunting cannot keep up with the exponential population growth. That is why we are developing oral contraceptives. Our solution does not kill the pigs, just permanently sterilizes them, painlessly and without side effects. This will result in an exponential reduction of the pig population to manageable levels through natural and man-made causes. This effort is expensive, but well worth it to overcome the $1.5 Billion in damages currently caused by the Feral Hog population explosion. Check our FERAL HOG PROJECT page to see our latest status.
Some of the requirements we address through donations and adoption funds:
Vaccine Delivery Equipment & Feeders – feeders are essential to delivering the medicated food products safely and without impact to the surrounding environment and animals. Pigs are smart and destructive. They learn how to dismantle the feeders to access the feed. We have to replace our feeders at least yearly. We need six new feeders @ $400 per feeder.
Laboratory Equipment & Supplies – as a biogenetics lab, our consumables and supplies are very expensive, but the end result is a solution that saves the world.
Medicine & Antibiotics – Feral hogs contract many diseases and suffer from numerous cuts and scrapes. Although their immune system is rather remarkable, we provide oral medications, antibiotics, and vitamins to help our “research partners” be as healthy as possible to ensure the best environment for our vaccine solutions.
Pig Food – food is essential to the delivery of our oral vaccine for contraception. We average $800 – $1000 per month for feed.
Swine brucellosis is an infectious disease caused by the bacteria Brucella suis (B. suis). It produces chronic inflammatory lesions in the reproductive organs that lead to abortions, infertility, and birth of weak piglets. The disease can also attack joints, leading to lameness.
The United States eliminated the disease from commercial swine in 2011. However, swine brucellosis is still present in wild swine in this country. Any mammal exposed to feral swine are at risk of infection. And yes, Swine Brucellosis can also infect people.
During our research in to an effective contraception for feral hogs, we asked ourselves if we could also address the brucellosis problem. Nearly all of our ”research partners” (our pig family), showed signs of brucellosis, with many suffering greatly or succumbing to the disease completely. Because our oral vaccine is similar to the oral vaccines used for COVID-19 and other newer generation treatments, it was not a stretch to use the immunologic capability of our design to attack brucellosis. This vaccine, if successful, will be able to be used across all wild and domestic animals as a preventive vaccine.
Check our FERAL HOG BRUCELLOSIS ORAL VACCINE PROJECT page to see our latest status.
Vaccine Design and Development – Using similar tools currently employed to design and create vaccines for the Flu and COVID, we need to refine and test our solution. This is a precise process with key controls and steps required for validation and approval by State and Federal Agencies. The testing and permitting process is not too expensive, but funds are needed to allow for redesign and retesting as required by the reviewers. Development for commercial delivery and sales will most likely be best contracted out to third party laboratories that specialize in this area. At that point we would license to the product to our operational laboratory partner Dakota Research Labs, Inc. We need about help with your donations to develop, test, permit and prepare for commercial deployment.
Live Brucellosis Vaccine Preparation–Working with a live bacteria requires special handling and controls. What we need for our projects is a version of the bacteria that is no longer a threat. In other words, it can still look and act like a virus or bacteria, but it can not be transmissible from one subject to another and it will not cause any of the harmful effects. This requires purchasing of an “attenuated” virus strain from authorized laboratories by an authorized specialist or medical professional. This will be accomplished through a consultant for our purposes. We are also researching developing a virus-like delivery vector that appears to the pig’s immune system to be a live Brucellosis virus, causing an immune response.
The Lower Keys Marsh Rabbit was federally recognized as an “endangered species” on June 21, 1990. It is affected by destruction to its habitat. The urbanized Florida Keys have left the rabbit with a very small home range, making it more vulnerable to threats such as pollution, vehicular road kill, and predation by stray cats. In 1995, scientists predicted a gradual decline in the rabbits abundance and extinction by 2045. The Lower Keys marsh rabbit population is estimated to contain approximately 150 individuals.
The largest population of Endangered Lower Keys Marsh Rabbits resides on the US Naval Base on Boca Chica Key near Key West, Florida. Our Key West Team are proposing to perform data collection on the numbers and location of these tiny rabbits. The effort will occur mostly at night when the rabbits are most active and Naval Flight Operations are limited. This data collection will support research performed decades earlier and may help determine if conservation efforts are helping or if further actions are required. Our Key West Team is made up of active duty and retired military and US Government Civilians which allows for unhindered base access. Our relationship with the Base Leadership and experience within the base infrastructure should assist in a smooth and transparent integration within the base activities.
Check our Lower Keys Marsh Rabbit Research page for more information and to see our latest status.
Not really a Cause, but the laboratory completion and equipment setup is critical to all of the projects. As a nonprofit organization, we have received donations of over $500,000 worth of new and used equipment. Much of this equipment requires some level of repair or maintenance to be fully operational. Currently we are addressing the complete build and installation of the Field Lab with in house staff and funding. As we progress through the projects, we will need to bring more of this vital equipment online. The high-value equipment, such as gene sequencers, DNA synthesizers, and sample analysis tools, require a considerable investment in supplies and consumables such as chemicals and reagents. These costs are planned for the future as their use in-house will considerably offset the external costs to develop and implement our solutions. We currently rely on third party vendors to provide us the components we need to create our designed vaccines and perform testing and evaluation of efficacy. Once we can enable our own equipment in the lab, we will cut our costs by at least 60%..
Some of the requirements we address through your donations of equipment and funds:
Ultra Low Temperature Freezer Maintenance and Repair – Ultra Low Temperature freezers reach cold temperatures up to -80C. This is necessary to freeze and protect the DNA fragments and final vaccine products we test and design. The annual maintenance of our two freezers will exceed $800. A coolant recharge and component repair is needed for the primary freezer at a cost of $1,400.
Laboratory Equipment Calibration – Lab equipment is required to be accurate to levels that necessitates frequent testing and calibration. Weigh scales and balances, pipettors, incubators, chillers, protein and DNA synthesizers, DNA sequencers, biosafety hoods and personal protective equipment all need routine maintenance and calibration. A certified technician is usually required to perform the calibration to maintain required standards. The annual costs for calibration and maintenance will exceed $1,500.
Laboratory Consumables & Chemicals – To maintain clean and sterile environments and practices, laboratory consumables such as flasks, tubes, bottles, petri dishes, pipette tips, weigh scale boats, reagents, growing material, etc., are not reused under best practices. This results in a need for significant amount of consumables and supplies on a routine basis. Also, specific consumables kits are required for the gene sequencers or synthesizers. The annual expectation of consumable costs will exceed $10,000.
Laboratory Computers and Software – We are currently configuring donated and used computer equipment to set up the data server and software host we need to network and run our equipment. However, the biggest expense will be the large amount of data storage required for gene sequencing. Although digital storage is getting less expensive, we are still expecting to pay in excess of $4,000 to get our network and servers up and running. One of the most critical needs right now is a comprehensive Laboratory Management System. This software is key to perform and manage laboratory supplies and equipment inventory and usage, manage individual projects through specific protocols required for validation and certification, support budget management, integrate with staffing and project management applications, prepare for and complete audit requirements, and develop real time dashboards and scheduled reports. After a lengthy assessment, the Lab Management System we selected will cost $2,500 per year. We hope to get enough donations to support our subscription for three years or more. Our total need for this requirement is in excess of $12,000.
Pythons have found a perfect habitat in the Everglades and South Florida. They are decimating the native small mammal population and are crowding out native reptiles. These animals have no natural predators for control and are growing well beyond the ability of the ecosystem to support them and our native species as well. Our efforts are to find a humane solution to effectively manage these invaders without the need for significant human interaction.
Florida Iguanas are not necessarily competing with other Florida reptiles, but they do carry reptilian diseases and are a nuisance. These animals have no natural predators for control and are growing well beyond the ability of the ecosystem to support them and our native species as well. Our efforts are to find a humane solution to effectively manage these invaders without the need for significant human interaction.
Lionfish were released in the Florida Keys by an entrepreneur who thought he could create a natural source of a very good fish for his restaurant. Lionfish have crowded out native reef fish and are destroying the local ecosystem. These animals have few natural predators for control and are growing well beyond the ability of the ecosystem to support them and our native species as well. Our efforts are to find a humane solution to effectively manage these invaders without the need for significant human interaction.