Comparison and assessment of drugs used to immobilize Alaskan gray wolves (Canis lupus) and wolverines (Gulo gulo) from a helicopter.
One hundred and three Alaskan gray wolves and 12 wolverines were immobilized in the Nelchina and upper Susitna River Basins of southcentral Alaska between March 1977 and May 1981. Sixty-five wolves were immobilized with a mixture of phencyclidine HCl and promazine HCl (PP/HCl); 38 wolves were immobilized with etorphine HCl (EHCl) and 12 wolverines were immobilized with EHCl or with a mixture of EHCl and xylazine HCl (XHCl). Phencyclidine HCl is no longer commercially available and an assessment of etorphine HCl as a replacement drug was made. Etorphine HCl dosage of 2.5 mg/wolf proved to be a suitable replacement for PP/HCl for immobilizing wolves while 0.7 mg EHCl with 50 mg XHCl appeared suitable for wolverines.
D000401:Aircraft; D000413:Alaska; D000828:Animal Population Groups; D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild; D002335:Carnivora / Q000502:physiology*; D004338:Drug Combinations; D005048:Etorphine / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D007103:Immobilization; D008297:Male; D010622:Phencyclidine / Q000494:pharmacology; D011395:Promazine / Q000494:pharmacology; D014149:Tranquilizing Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014991:Xylazine / Q000494:pharmacology
D004338:Drug Combinations; D014149:Tranquilizing Agents; D014991:Xylazine; D005048:Etorphine; D010622:Phencyclidine; D011395:Promazine