Immobilization of Japanese Black Bears (Ursus thibetanus japonicus) with Tiletamine Hydrochloride and Zolazepam Hydrochloride

Abstract

ABSTRACT. The effect of anesthetizing with a 1:1 combination of tiletamine hydrochloride and zolazepam hydrochloride (TZ) was evaluated in 75 Japanese black bears. TZ was administered to 43 captive and 11 wild, 8 captives and 13 hibernating captive bears at the doses of approximately 9.0 mg/kg (usual dosage), 18.0 mg/kg (high dosage) and 5.0 mg/kg (low dosage), respectively. Sufficient anesthetic effects were achieved in all bears, and rectal temperatures, heart rates and respiratory rates did not change significantly during an hour handling. Complete blood cell examinations showed no abnormal data. A combination of TZ would be an efficient and safe drug for chemical immobilization of Japanese black bears. KEY WORDS: immobilization, Japanese black bear, tiletamine-zolazepam.J. Vet. Med. Sci. 69(4): 433-435, 2007 In many situations, such as attaching a radio-transmitter, medical examinations and sampling various biological materials, many drugs have been used for immobilization of free-ranging and captive wildlife. It is necessary to select anesthetic drugs with little adverse effects on the animal as much as possible. Anesthetics that have specific antagonists are generally preferable for wildlife. Moreover, in handling large animals such as bears, the safety of handlers should be considered. For example, etorphine [1,11], ketamine-xylazine [7,13], and medetomidine-ketamine [3,5] have been used to immobilize bears. Recently a mixture of tiletaminezolazepam has often been used as an anesthetic drug administered alone for brown bear (Ursus arctos) [12,14] and polar bear (U. maritimus) [3,6,9,10] or administered with a combination of medetomidine for polar bear [2,3,5], black bear (U. americanus) [4] and sun bear (Helarctos malayanus) [8]. In this study, we first applied tiletaminezolazepam to Japanese black bear (U. thibetanus japonicus) to evaluate the anesthetic effect and its safety.Healthy and sexually mature 64 bears (16 males and 48 females) kept in Ani Matagi-no-sato Bear Park, Akita and 11 wild bears (4 males and 7 females) captured by traps in the East Chugoku Mountain Range for the radio-tracking research were used between June 1996 and July 1997 in this study. Bears were immobilized with a 1:1 mixture of tiletamine-HCL and zolazepam-HCL (TZ, Zoletile ® 100, Virbac Laboratories, France; mixture of 250 mg zolazepam-HCL and 250 mg tiletamine-HCL) prepared at 300 mg/ml.Bears were divided into 3 groups (A, B and C). Group A (usual dosage) consisted of 54 bears (43 captives and 11 wild) administered approximately 9.0 mg/kg TZ intramuscularly by blowgun based on estimated body weight. Additional administration of TZ was needed in some captive bears of this group. Group B (high dosage) consisted of 8 captive bears and Group C (low dosage) was also 13 captive hibernating bears administered TZ intramuscularly based on estimated body weight at the doses of approximately 18.0 mg/kg and 5.0 mg/kg, respectively.After judging induction, bears were weighed and measured, and blood samples were collected. Final dosage...

Capture, Anesthesia, and Disturbance of Free-Ranging Brown Bears (Ursus arctos) during Hibernation

“…Evaluation of disturbance and impact of research on free-ranging animals is becoming more valued [9], [10]. We developed this capture protocol for hibernating brown bears based on limited reports of immobilization of American and Asiatic black bears ( Ursus americanus and U. thibetanus ) during winter [11], [12], [13], immobilization of captive brown bears in wintertime [14], springtime brown bear immobilization protocols in the same study areas [15], [16], and knowledge of denning ecology [17], [18], [19] and hibernation physiology [3], [20].…”

Reversible Immobilization of Asiatic Black Bear (Ursus thibetanus) with Detomidine-Tiletamine-Zolazepam and Atipamezole

“…For the Hokkaido brown bear (Ursus arctos yesoensis), tiletamine-zolazepam and midazolam-ketamine are commonly utilized. 12,13 In contrast, there is a paucity of information about anesthetic protocols for other bear species, where only the use of tiletamine-zolazepam is reported in the spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus), 3 sun bear (Helarctos malayanus), 3 Japanese black bear (Ursus thibetanus japonicus), 2,9,16,17 Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus), 10 and the sloth bear (Melursus ursinus). 9 Some drug combinations have proven unreliable in bears, including xylazine-ketamine and medetomidine-ketamine, due to the risk of sudden arousal with few predictable signs of recovery in response to loud noises, potential movement of the bear, painful stimuli, and vocalizations of cubs for sows.…”

Veterinary issues related to bears (Ursidae)

“…(Kreeger, 1999) tiletamine-zolazepam 5 mg kg À 1 (hibernating) i.m. (Asano et al, 2007) tiletamine-zolazepam 7 mg kg À 1 i.m. (Kojima et al, 2001) tiletamine-zolazepam 9 mg kg À 1 i.m.…”

“…(Kojima et al, 2001) tiletamine-zolazepam 9 mg kg À 1 i.m. (Asano et al, 2007) tiletamine-zolazepam 18 mg kg À 1 (high-dose trial) i.m. (Asano et al, 2007) medetomidine 0 Á 01 mg kg À 1 and tiletamine-zolazepam 0 Á 5 mg kg À 1 i.m.…”

“…(Asano et al, 2007) tiletamine-zolazepam 18 mg kg À 1 (high-dose trial) i.m. (Asano et al, 2007) medetomidine 0 Á 01 mg kg À 1 and tiletamine-zolazepam 0 Á 5 mg kg À 1 i.m. (Cracknell, 2007) xylazine 0 Á 6 mg kg À 1 and ketamine 4 mg kg À 1 i.m.…”