Immobilization of white-tailed deer with telazol, ketamine, and xylazine, and evaluation of antagonists

Autor: Christopher S. DePerno, Kevin L. Monteith, Kyle B. Monteith, Todd J. Brinkman, Joshua A. Delger, Lowell E. Schmitz, Jonathan A. Jenks
Rok vydání: 2012
Předmět:
Zdroj: The Journal of Wildlife Management. 76:1412-1419
ISSN: 0022-541X
2005-2006
DOI: 10.1002/jwmg.383
Popis: Telazol-xylazine and ketamine-xylazine are versatile and safe drug combinations that are used frequently for chemical immobilization of cervids. Although neither combination consistently offers rapid induction and recovery, we hypothesized that a combination of Telazol, ketamine, and xylazine (TKX) would provide a safe and effective alternative for immobilization of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). During a 2-stage study, we evaluated the effectiveness of yohimbine and tolazoline as alpha2-adrenergic antagonists (2005-2006), and characterized the factors that affected chemical immobilization of male deer with a targeted dose of telazol (2.20 mg/kg), ketamine (1.76 mg/kg), and xylazine (0.44 mg/kg), using explosive-charged darts (2007-2010). During the first stage, we randomly assigned deer to antagonist treatments, including a control group that did not receive an antagonist (n ¼ 8), a tolazoline (4 mg/kg) treatment (n ¼ 16), and a yohimbine (0.11 mg/kg) treatment (n ¼ 15). Recovery times ðxSEÞ were longer (P ¼ 0.0013) for control (150.6 � 21.7 min) and yohimbine (74.5 � 13.1 min), compared with tolazoline (12.5 � 12.3 min). Tolazoline resulted in faster and more complete recovery compared with the frequent incomplete antagonism and ataxia observed with yohimbine. During the second stage, 56 immo- bilization events (2007-2010) with TKX yielded a mean induction time of 7.8 minutes (SE ¼ 0.44). Repeated-measures analyses indicated that induction and recovery were affected by body weight, with larger males taking longer to become recumbent (P ¼ 0.08), but they recovered more rapidly (P ¼ 0.003) following administration of tolazoline. Physiological parameters we measured under anesthesia were within normal ranges for white-tailed deer; however, initial temperature was higher (b ¼� 0.86) for younger males (P ¼ 0.014). Final physiological parameters were closely related to initial measurements, with rectal temperature being the most preserved (b ¼ 0.90); heart and respiration rate declined (b < 0.60) during anesthesia. Our results indicate that TKX may be useful for chemically immobilizing white-tailed deer, and we recommend tolazoline as an antagonist for xylazine. 2012 The Wildlife Society.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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