Establishing long-term colonies of marsupials to provide models for studying developmental mechanisms and their application to fertility control

Abstract

To study marsupial developmental mechanisms and their application to fertility control, it is necessary to develop reliable procedures for breeding, colony maintenance, reproductive monitoring for obtaining known-age embryos and, if possible, an induced ovulation protocol. These procedures also provide means to enhance conservation of endangered species. Such procedures are examined in the stripe-faced dunnart, an excellent model for developmental analysis, and the common brush-tail possum, an agricultural and ecological pest species in New Zealand that has become a model for fertility control in marsupials. A long-term colony of the stripe-faced dunnart has been in existence for 21 years, a..