Thursday June 24 WILDLIFE IMMOBILIZATION (cont)

5:45 am: Breakfast

6:30 am – 12:30 pm: Immobilization of Wildlife – Field Demonstrations. Leads: Citino, Fleming, Klein and Zuba, and WOCC animal care staff

Field demonstrations of, and hands-on experience with, physical restraint and immobilization of large ruminants (bongo), zebra, and other sensitive and/or difficult species (e.g. gerenuk).

For this lab I was grouped in the zebra group. We got to witness the firing of the immobilization dart, and the initiation of anesthesia. Once the animal was down our group sprang into action. Part of my role was to begin begin intranasal oxygen and then take blood samples from the jugular vein. I then placed myself next to Rolando for the ultrasound (to check for pregnancy). It was an AMAZING experience. Here is the takedown video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL-JeTNEXKQ

After the immobilizations were comlete we inspected the squeeze shoot used for giraffes and went over the physiology of the anesthesia. By the time we returned to the lake lodge everyone was hot, hungry, and tired. We took a quick dip in the pool before lunch.

12:30 pm: Lunch

While eating we watched a video presentation by White Oak Animal Care staff on mechanical, physical and behavioral restraint techniques used at White Oak Conservation Center.

Afternoon: Nap and group project Part II work time

Once the video was over I headed back to my room for a quick nap. About an hour later our group convened to work on our project. When we were done I started some laundry and by then it was time to get some more food.

7:00 pm: Dinner

At dinner I sat with Citino and listened to some crazy stories he has about being a zoo veterinarian. The highlight was the story of a chimpanzee that got loose and almost ripped his head off. We were privileged to be joined by Linn Klein, who worked as the anesthesiologist for Barbaro and had many stories of her own to share.