Relative Efficiency of Succinylcholine, Xylazine, and Carfentanil/Xylazine Mixtures to Immobilize Free-Ranging Moose

Delvaux, Hugues; Courtois, Réhaume; Breton, Laůrier; Patenaude, Robert

doi:10.7589/0090-3558-35.1.38

Cited by 26 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…The body temperatures above the 41 C critical limit for animals 12 and 14 can be explained by the extremely high air temperatures during the study and the exertion experienced by the animals immediately before and after darting from helicopter pursuit. Many comparable studies report similar degrees of hyperthermia in free-ranging ungulates (e.g., Delvaux et al, 1999;Arnemo et al, 2005). Due to timing and logistic constraints, some animals were regrettably pursued and captured throughout the hottest parts of the day.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 85%

“…Despite their widespread use in the past, neuromuscular blockers have been rarely employed over the past two decades. Because of their extremely low safety margins, high mortality rates, inconsistent effectiveness, and lack of sedative or analgesic properties, neuromuscular blockers are now widely considered to be inhumane and unsafe for this purpose (Delvaux et al, 1999;Kreeger et al, 2002;Arnemo et al, 2003). For donkeys, succinylcholine has the advantages of a relatively broad therapeutic dose range in equids (Fowler, 2008), rapid inductions and recoveries, and being extremely inexpensive.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For donkeys, succinylcholine has the advantages of a relatively broad therapeutic dose range in equids (Fowler, 2008), rapid inductions and recoveries, and being extremely inexpensive. However, drug costs comprise the minority of total costs associated with helicopter capture programs, with the most expensive component being helicopter flight time (Delvaux et al, 1999). Owing to the higher failure rates of immobilization attempts and higher mortality rates when using succinylcholine, the total cost of using succinylcholine is often higher than for more reliable drug regimes in helicopter capture programs (Delvaux et al, 1999).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Field Immobilization of Feral ‘Judas’ Donkeys (Equus Asinus) by Remote Injection of Medetomidine and Ketamine and Antagonism With Atipamezole

Woolnough

Hampton

Campbell

et al. 2012

Journal of Wildlife Diseases

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ABSTRACT:The Judas technique is a method used for landscape control of feral donkeys (Equus asinus) in northern Australia. Central to the success of any Judas program is the safe, efficient, and humane attachment of the telemetry device. For feral donkeys, this involves the use of field immobilization. We examine the replacement of the current chemical capture agent, succinylcholine, with contemporary immobilization agents to achieve positive animal welfare outcomes. A combination of medetomidine and ketamine delivered by remote injection from a helicopter was used to capture 14 free-ranging feral donkeys for the fitting of telemetry collars in Western Australia in November 2010. Dose rates of 0.14 mg/kg medetomidine and 4.1 mg/kg ketamine were appropriate to immobilize animals in 9 min (6SD53). Mean recovery time (total time in recumbency) was 21 min (614). All animals recovered uneventfully after being administered atipamezole, a specific antagonist of medetomidine, intramuscularly at 0.35 mg/kg. Physiologic parameters were recorded during recumbency, with environment-related hyperthermia being the only abnormality recognized. No significant complications were encountered, and this drug combination represents an efficient approach to capturing wild donkeys. This new method allows a rapid, safe, cost-effective approach to the immobilization of feral donkeys for use as Judas animals. This drug combination will replace the relatively inhumane succinylcholine for the field immobilization of feral donkeys.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 85%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Field Immobilization of Feral ‘Judas’ Donkeys (Equus Asinus) by Remote Injection of Medetomidine and Ketamine and Antagonism With Atipamezole

Woolnough

Hampton

Campbell

et al. 2012

Journal of Wildlife Diseases

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“…Sedative and anaesthetic agents depress thermoregulatory function and both hypo-and hyperthermia can be of significance depending upon the ambient temperature and the 13 duration of anaesthesia in the field (Delvaux et al 1999). The metabolic effects associated with the escape response in wild animals may significantly raise the core and therefore rectal temperature of captured animals (Woolnough et al 2012).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the efficacy of medetomidine and tiletamine–zolazepam for remote immobilisation of feral horses (Equus caballus)

et al. 2014

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Methods. Nine feral horses were darted from the ground with 60 mg of medetomidine and 1500 mg of tiletamine-zolazepam. The effects of medetomidine were reversed with 50-100 mg of atipamezole 30-40 minutes post induction (IV/IM). Physiological variables monitored during anaesthesia were heart rate, respiratory rate, temperature and oxygen haemoglobin saturation (S p O 2 ). 2Key results. All horses were successfully immobilised with between one and three darts (n = 9). The mean dose of medetomidine was 0.15 ± 0.01 mg kg -1 (SEM) and tiletaminezolazepam was 3.61 ± 0.16 mg kg -1 . Mean time from darting to lateral recumbency was 13 ± 2.7 min, and mean recumbency time was 54 ± 13 min. Vital signs for all anaesthetised animals remained within normal range during anaesthesia, with the exception of one animal displaying a transient drop in S p O 2 . No mortalities were encountered.Key conclusions. The combination of medetomidine and tiletamine-zolazepam provided adequate anaesthesia in feral horses in the field for application of GPS collars.Implications. Although a limited number of horses were immobilised, this study shows that medetomidine and tiletamine-zolazepam provides effective short-term anaesthesia for feral horses, providing a practical and field-accessible capture technique. This method could also be applied to other management actions requiring safe and humane capture of feral horses.

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“…Sedative and anaesthetic agents depress thermoregulatory function and both hypo-and hyperthermia can be of significance depending upon the ambient temperature and the duration of anaesthesia in the field (Delvaux et al 1999). The metabolic effects associated with the escape response in wild animals may significantly raise the core and therefore rectal temperature of captured animals (Woolnough et al 2012).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding population dynamics of feral horses in the Tuan and Toolara State Forest for successful long-term population management

Zabek¹

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Feral horses (Equus caballus) in Australia are a growing problem despite implementation of management strategies. The increasing number of feral horses within the Tuan and Toolara State Forest (TTSF), a coniferous plantation on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, and particularly near major public roads, has been recognised as a problem in the last decade. Desensitised to road traffic, horses are a serious distraction for motorists, and have potential to cause serious animal-vehicle accidents.The primary objective of the study was to characterise the essential demographics of the TTSF feral horses, so that the most suitable methods for long-term population management could be determined. The study was conducted from 2012 -2014 and determined social structure, reproductive performance and survival, and population growth rate. The estimation of population distribution, abundance and density together with assessment of habitat use and home range size were also addressed.The studied population did not show significant annual variation in demographics, which is consistent with measurements in other unmanaged feral horse populations in Australia and abroad. The overall size and age composition of social groups remained stable during the study period. The average harem size was estimated as 4.95 (95%CI 4.53-5.41), and usually consisted of 1 stallion, 2 -3 adult females, and 2 immature offspring (≤ 3 years of age). Males not associated with harems consisted of adult (≥ 3 years old) and sub-adult (2 years old) individuals, either forming groups of 2 -6 or living by themselves. The population showed a stable age distribution, with adult horses constituting the largest group (68%; n = 247). The sex ratio of adult female to male horses was nearly equal (0.99:1.00).The mean annual fecundity was 0.23 ± 0.07 SD and was comparable to those obtained for other feral horse populations where the environment imposed nutritional limitations. Adult females were observed to foal on average every second year. The overall nutritional status of the population expressed as body condition score (BCS; 0 -5) was 2.55 ± 0.51 SD with adult females having poorer scores than other age and gender groups. Survival estimates were consistently high (0.92 -0.95) across all age groups. The average annual finite rate of population increase (λ) for the three years of the study was 1.088 which was lower than the maximum reported for populations living in the most favourable conditions. Elasticity iii analysis demonstrated that the TTSF population growth rate was almost seven times more sensitive to changes in adult survival compared with juvenile survival, and almost twice more sensitive than changes in fecundity.Assessment of the population distribution based on a strip transect survey using horse dung on forest tracks indicated that the majority of the forestry was occupied by horses, with the highest population density being located in the central region of the plantation.Abundance and density of horses were estimated by distance line transect surv...

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Relative Efficiency of Succinylcholine, Xylazine, and Carfentanil/Xylazine Mixtures to Immobilize Free-Ranging Moose

Cited by 26 publications

References 11 publications

Field Immobilization of Feral ‘Judas’ Donkeys (Equus Asinus) by Remote Injection of Medetomidine and Ketamine and Antagonism With Atipamezole

Field Immobilization of Feral ‘Judas’ Donkeys (Equus Asinus) by Remote Injection of Medetomidine and Ketamine and Antagonism With Atipamezole

Assessing the efficacy of medetomidine and tiletamine–zolazepam for remote immobilisation of feral horses (Equus caballus)

Understanding population dynamics of feral horses in the Tuan and Toolara State Forest for successful long-term population management

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